Code LYOKO: Fragmented Legacies
by watfics
Summary: For Team LYOKO, high school is more than just making the grade or falling in love, they must also keep the world safe from XANA and the remnants of Aelita's past. But a relaxing weekend soon turns into a race against time to unravel a sinister plot. And bad things can happen, to those who least deserve it. [29: 3:00 PM - 4:00 PM]
1. Aftermath and Beginnings

**Code LYOKO: Fragmented Legacies**

**1: Aftermath and Beginnings**

* * *

><p>The coolest, most important job in the world was also the worst in terms of salaries and benefits.<p>

Indeed, the small group responsible for foiling a single entity's constant attempts at world domination, first-degree murder, or merely pissing people off were never commended nor paid a single Euro for accomplishing feats equivalent to those of fictional superheroes such as Wonderwoman, Jack Bauer or Pac Man. Furthermore, kicking evil hard in the face was a non-unionized occupation and hence there were no sick days, pensions or welfare bonuses to be allotted.

How evil was that?

In addition, like so many of the fabled caped allies of justice, saving the world without anyone noticing was one of the many strict requirements. It wasn't that they had to use secret codenames or wear masks and spandex, it was just that no one could ever come remotely close to discover what they were up to. And those who had caught a brief glimpse of them were unable to recall what they had witnessed shortly afterwards.

But above all, the members of this evil-bashing quintet known as Team LYOKO – were only high school students.

* * *

><p><em><strong>September, 2006<strong>_

It was the beginning of another school year at Kadic Academy in Paris, France. The trees surrounding the institution had already begun changing colours, creating a big mess of red, orange and yellow that no groundskeeper would want to clean up. The bells rang one last time to signal the end of classes for the day, and as students and teachers began rushing out of their classrooms, no one seemed to notice that they had gone through a case of déjà vu.

Except for the five individuals who were immune to such a return to the past.

Not far from the school grounds, a manhole cover was uplifted and out came a boy completely dressed in purple, sporting blonde hair that looked like it had been inserted into a giant pencil sharpener. Despite what had happened earlier during the day, Odd Della Robia still had a flashy grin plastered over his face; which has yet to win him a date.

"Cheer up Ulrich! Look at the bright side! Think of the positives! I mean, yeah, we both failed a pop quiz today and William's gone over to the dark side and all…but…at least Yumi's all yours now!"

**Odd Della Robia  
>Age: 16<br>LYOKO avatar: Ferocious Feline  
>Rating: AWESOME<br>Fun Facts:  
>His hair has the power to defy gravity.<br>He enjoys reading comic strips, especially Garfield and Calvin and Hobbes. **

"Shut up, Odd," muttered Ulrich Stern as he too emerged from the sewer system. Once again his best friend and roommate's remarks have irked him, but he had to admit that with William gone…

**Ulrich Stern  
>Age: 16<br>LYOKO avatar: Shinobi (male ninja [JAP])  
>Rating: 910 (academics: 7/10)  
>Fun Facts:<br>He once got an F+ on an essay; his English teacher said it was written in an alien language.  
>His favourite football (soccer) player is German striker Miroslav Klose.<strong>

"What did he say this time, Ulrich?" asked a feminine voice below him.

"N-nothing," stammered Ulrich as he lent a hand towards his black-clad friend Yumi Ishiyama.

**Yumi Ishiyama  
>Age: 17<br>LYOKO avatar: Kunoichi (female ninja [JAP])  
>Rating: 910  
>Fun Facts:<br>Her highly-organized closet consists of 80% black clothes.  
>She is a huge fan of Japanese pop music, and U2.<strong>

"So what are we gonna do, now that XANA has a new puppet?" asked Odd.

"A new powerful, cocky, self-centred puppet, you mean." Yumi corrected.

"Can't argue with you there. He did just about beat us all by himself."

Ulrich displayed an expression of utmost disgust at Odd's reminder of their most recent encounter with XANA's newest Enforcer and how, had it not been for a lucky break, Team LYOKO would have ceased to exist. Meanwhile, the unofficial leader and strategist of the group, Jeremie Belpois joined them.

**Jeremie Belpois  
>Age: 15¾<br>LYOKO avatar: Ridiculous and Enigmatic  
>Rating: [(3+3) x 2<strong>** - 3.5]****/10  
>Fun Facts:<br>His first word was 'motherboard'.  
>He has a poster of Albert Einstein. His nickname is also Einstein.<strong>

"Well, William was powerful to begin with, and he definitely took us by surprise with his new abilities and massive power creep from XANA. The probability of us standing a chance against him in our current state was next to null. On top of that–"

Jeremie abruptly stopped talking as he felt a soft nudge on his trousers from the pink-haired girl beneath him.

"I don't mind listening to your extensive analysis of today's mission Jeremie, but…my arms are sort of getting tired," said Aelita Stones.

**Aelita Stones / Hopper / ?  
>Age: 16<br>LYOKO avatar: Elf  
>Rating: 910 (10/10 for natural pink hair!)  
>Fun Facts:<br>Pink hair!  
>She has <strong>_**lupophobia**_**: the fear of wolves (includes Wolverine and Hugh Jackman).  
>She visits her old home, the Hermitage on weekends. Jeremie is invited. Odd is not.<br>**

"Oh, sorry," said Jeremie as he offered his hand. Aelita accepted it with a smile, making the young tech-savvy boy blush. It was over a year since their first encounter, and Jeremie still felt a certain tingle down his spine every time he interacted with his pink-haired friend.

* * *

><p><em><strong>Re: October, 2005<strong>_

It was the beginning of another school year at Kadic Academy in Paris, France. Due to an abnormally long summer, October still brought on both hot and humid weather. The trees surrounding the institution had not even begun changing colours and falling from their branches, which was a welcoming sight for any groundskeeper.

Several weeks into the school term, Little Jeremie was already bored. He had no problem understanding the course material, and homework was ready to be submitted in nearly half the time that it would take an average student to finish. While this meant that Jeremie had a lot of free time, he saw little fun in extra-curricular activities. But if there was one thing he _was _interested in, it was technological science. He spent most of his time outside of class tinkering with robots or exploring new computer software. Jeremie even hacked into the Principal's office computer once and learned of Mr. Delmas's inner passion for Maple Story.

One day, he decided to explore Kadic Academy, which was highly out of the ordinary. If you ever had to seek Jeremie Belpois, all you had to do was try his room, classroom, cafeteria, library or the boys' lavatory (unless you were of the opposite sex). But he was in need of some spare parts for the robot he was constructing for the science fair. Clearly, this excursion yielded a higher probability of finding the necessary trinkets than consulting his science teacher.

Fifteen minutes into his 'field trip', Jeremie stumbled upon what appeared to be an abandoned warehouse south of the campus. At least, he thought it was abandoned; if it was still operational, surely he would've heard the sounds of industrialization from afar. He entered the building, having no idea what he was about to get himself into as he made his way down to the basement. He couldn't believe what it contained.

A giant – no, a _super_computer.

The search for robot accessories long forgotten and with more curiosity than a cat, Jeremie started up the behemoth machine, while taking note of the three tall cylindrical cells connected to the mainframe. When he went up to the control room, he found the computer to be fully operational. On the middle screen was what appeared to be a topographic visual of a digital world, codenamed 'LYOKO', while the side screens displayed running applications and data streams.

_How could something like this possibly exist?_

Using his experience in programming, Jeremie began to explore LYOKO. He discovered that there were essentially four sections, each with a distinct environment and which were connected by tall cylindrical towers similar to the ones in the basement of the factory. When he clicked on one of the Towers, he was shocked by what he saw.

There was a…_girl_ inside the Tower, resting peacefully while being suspended in the air. Jeremie gasped as the pink-headed girl heard him as she slowly opened her eyes and tilted her head to one side.

"_Hello there_." The girl said with a smile. Apparently, she could see and hear him.

It seemed as though fantasy was becoming reality before his very eyes. Digital World? Check. Girl stuck in Digital World? Make that a _cute girl with pink hair _stuck in a Digital World? Check. This whole thing not being a dream? Triple check.

"_H-hi_."

Now, Jeremie was never the happy-go-lucky guy. He hadn't gotten to know his classmates since he was sure that they would just be asking for answers to homework problems and the like. And there were seldom individuals that expressed interest in his hobbies who weren't his academic rivals as well. But with Aelita, it was different.

In the days that followed, Jeremie spent most of his free time conversing with Aelita. Despite being unable to recall how she ended up on LYOKO, she always seemed cheerful and understanding as the two became close confidantes, despite being in different worlds. Aelita was fascinated with the real world, whereas Jeremie was fascinated with LYOKO and vowed to find a way to get her back to Earth. But it wasn't that easy.

When Jeremie turned on the supercomputer, he also awakened XANA, a computer virus that appeared to only have one goal - the same goal of every villain: world domination. With a side helping of eliminating Aelita, who had a special connection with XANA. And that was the problem. If Jeremie was to get her back onto Earth, he would have to sever this bond. But XANA had other plans and it soon targeted Aelita and began to launch attacks in the real world. Not wanting to shut down the supercomputer and lose his only friend – albeit digital – he desperately sought help; which came from unlikely allies.

Fellow classmates Young Odd and Growing-up Ulrich, along with Adolescent Yumi had followed Jeremie to the factory, wondering what he was up to. Having been discovered, Jeremie enlisted their help in stopping XANA. He was surprised that they accepted his request, even though they didn't really know what the bloody hell was going on, nor really knew each other really well. Utilizing the cylindrical cells in the factory, which turned out to be 'scanners' that virtualized beings onto LYOKO – much like in Tron – Jeremie was able to send the trio to help Aelita.

Although Odd, Ulrich and Yumi landed most comfortably on their buttocks, they had the same feeling of when Jeremie first set his eyes on the supercomputer. The three were given new attire, including weapons and combat abilities. They soon joined up with Aelita and realized why they had been armed.

XANA had sent a legion of its monsters to eliminate its new threat of high school students, orchestrating the offensive from the cylindrical structure that served as its temporary command posts.

The three quickly grew familiar with their fighting abilities. Having spent much time in first-person shooting via weekend arcade extravaganzas, Odd showed that he specialized in long-range combat. On the other hand, Yumi and Ulrich demonstrated their proficiency in close-range monster slashing. Soon, XANA's forces were digitized and Aelita rushed off towards the activated Tower. As it turned out, she could neutralize them and thus, stall XANA's offensive temporarily. In addition, Jeremie came across an interesting program – 'return to the past', which reset time to before XANA launched its attack.

Supercomputer, digital world and now time travel. Violating numerous scientific theories and principles, this was turning out to be every science-fiction and Digimon fan's dream come true.

Ever since their first mission, the five Kadic students, dubbing themselves the LYOKO warriors continued to thwart XANA's relentless attacks. Through these numerous near-death experiences and cases where others almost discovered the existence of the supercomputer, Team LYOKO grew more closely-knit. And Jeremie realizing that having friends…wasn't all that bad.

Of course, the main objective was still to get Aelita out of LYOKO and within months, Jeremie compiled Code EARTH to do just that. At first, it appeared to have worked. The entire LYOKO team was there to witness Aelita step out of the scanners and enjoy her first breath of oxygen in over a decade. But she also harboured traces of XANA's digital code within her. And so, the supercomputer remained active as Jeremie tried to find a way to allow Aelita to remain on Earth permanently, free from the virus.

During his search, Jeremie came across the core of LYOKO – Sector 5. The epicentre contained vast amounts of data, including information of the creator, Franz Hopper. The resulting bombshell was similar to that of _Star Wars Episode V _- Franz Hopper was Aelita's biological father. This prompted further questions regarding her foggy past. At the same time, XANA was stepping up its attacks on LYOKO and Earth, trying to stop Team LYOKO from uncovering more details pertaining to Franz Hopper and the origins of LYOKO and Project CARTHAGE. It unleashed stronger monsters, including the Scyphozoa which threatened to further impair Aelita's memories.

Faced with mounting XANA attacks and an increasing academic workload, Team LYOKO elected to recruit a sixth member. Despite Yumi's objections, her classmate William the Cocky Fledgling joined the group, eager to help and show off at the same time. Things started off smoothly. William quickly proved himself as a valuable member, easily adjusting to the LYOKO environment and demonstrating his exceptional fighting prowess. Even Yumi seemed appreciative, while Ulrich maintained a sense of distrust and jealousy, which was soon well-justified.

In their most recent mission, William chose to single-handedly confront the Scyphozoa, completely forgetting an important code in LYOKO: _you never single-handedly challenge the Scyphozoa_. The creature of many tentacles gained the upper hand, trapping William and proceeding to convert him onto Team XANA. The LYOKO warriors tried to rescue him, but it was too late – and they were forced to face off against their former teammate. Five against one, how hard could it be?

Very. Enhanced by XANA's dark essence, William swiftly took down Yumi and Odd before incapacitating Ulrich in a one-sided swordfight. Had William been fully under XANA's control, and not retain a bit of his cocky self, he might not have made a slight misstep that resulted in him plunging into the Digital Sea. Although Aelita was then able to deactivate the Tower, the whole group was shocked at how easily WilliXANA had nearly won the day for the bad guys.

* * *

><p>"So, as I was saying–"<p>

"Jeremie, you can let go of my hand now." Aelita had already made her way up.

"Oh, sorry," the boy apologized and turned a deeper shade of red than Ron Weasley could manage. Ulrich and Odd started to snicker, but stopped when Jeremie glared at them.

"Anyways, what I was trying to say was–"

He was abruptly interrupted by Ulrich, who had just looked at his watch and realized something. He was late. "Sorry Jeremie, but I told Melanie that I would meet her in the library to finish our geography project. I'll catch you guys later?"

"Sure, keep in touch," Jeremie replied.

As Ulrich started sprinting towards Kadic's library, Odd yelled after him: "ULRICH, REMEMBER THAT CANADA IS _ABOVE _THE U.S.A.!" With typical good grace, Ulrich didn't glance back to retort, but showed Odd the finger instead.

Yumi chuckled. "Ulrich thought Canada was below America; where Mexico is?"

Odd nodded, smirking.

"Yeah…I think I saw him reading the textbook upside down while cramming for the unit test," Aelita said while everyone cracked up and headed for the cafeteria.

"That's Captain Sense of Direction for you. Anyways Einstein, what were you saying?"

Jeremie let out a sigh. When he was certain no one would further interrupt him, he cleared his throat, took a deep breath and…heard Aelita's ringtone – _Dearly Beloved_. Ever since Odd showed her Kingdom Hearts II, Aelita had developed a strong liking for the game that combined Final Fantasy with Donald Duck and the rest of Team Disney.

"Sorry," said Aelita briskly as she picked up her pink mobile phone that Jeremie gave her. "Hello? Oh…sure. Is…say 6:30 alright? Okay. Yep, see you then. Bye."

"Who was that?" asked Jeremie.

"Oh, it's nothing. Heidi added some final touches to our project, and wanted me to take a look."

"This project seems to be a big deal."

"Yeah, it's essentially just researching the country we were assigned in class. You know, like geographical features, population, culture and tourism. And then make a slideshow out of it," Aelita explained.

"Easy," replied Odd.

"I take it you're all ready for tomorrow's presentation Odd?" asked Jeremie.

Odd flashed his flashy grin. "You bet. Sissi and I have it in the bag. Searched up 'Britain' on Wikipedia, jotted down a couple of notes, PowerPointed it and was done in no time."

"What about you Jeremie?" asked Aelita.

"All I'm going to say is that it's much better working alone."

"You know, this would've been much better if we got to choose our own partners. I mean, all Sissi ever talks about is shopping, clothes, shopping and Ulrich (Yumi's face darkened at this). Did I mention that all Sissi talked about shopping? And I'm pretty sure that Einstein over here would much rather work with Aelita," said Odd as he winked at Jeremie.

"Shut up, Odd" said both Jeremie and Aelita, while Odd sighed at the sight of both of them turning brick red.

Once again, obliviousness was clearly the obstacle to a perfect relationship. And it was quite obvious to him, Ulrich and Yumi that 'Jerlita' (as dubbed by the three) was quite the perfect pair. In fact they were quite surprised that it had been nearly a year, and those two still hadn't gone asked each other out.

Jeremie was definitely more sociable and even smiled more whenever Aelita was around. Likewise, Aelita was equally content with spending time Jeremie both in and out of the classroom. The fact that those two spent hours in the factory together and shared common interests in the wonderful world of science/technology should've been enough of a giant neon yellow sign in front of Jeremie saying 'duh, you like her'.

Of course, every time he and Ulrich mentioned that to Jeremie, he would just be in denial; which was promptly contradicted by his glowing cheeks.

Then of course, there was Ulrich and Yumi…

* * *

><p>"All that aside now. Jeremie, you had something to say, right?"<p>

"Well, with all these distractions, I kind of forgot…just kidding," Jeremie added as he saw the shocked faces on everyone's face.

"Alright, let's recap. William is now under XANA's control–"

"After foolishly challenging the Scyphozoa on his own like the cocky cock he is."

"Yumi!"

"Sorry, I just knew that bringing William to LYOKO would cause problems. He's just so full of himself sometimes."

Jeremie nodded. "You were right. But what has happened has happened. Like I said earlier, it appears that William is more than a match for us. I mean, even when he was on our side, he had more life points and attack strength than any of us, which allowed him to go all-out commando-style and defeat XANA's monsters without breaking as much as a drop of sweat."

"I told you, William has a hack avatar…just like Sephiroth from Final Fantasy VII, or Bowser…no matter how many times you beat that guy…"

Jeremie ignored Odd. "The point is, XANA has reclaimed the upper hand. So…I was planning on modifying your LYOKO forms and vehicles in order to even the playing ground a little. I mean, I could've done it before but–"

"Cool! Can I get homing Laser Arrows? Or get my Future Flash ability back?"

"I'll see, Odd. It's not that easy, you know. In the meantime, not only do we have to find a way to break XANA's control on William, but we also have to deal with William's absence in the real world."

Yumi gasped. "I completely forgot about that. I doubt we can continue faking his illness or any other excuse for long, especially since we don't know when we'll get him back."

"Too bad he couldn't be in the same place at once," added Odd.

That's when a 60 watt fluorescent light bulb lit up over Aelita's head. "Can't we use the supercomputer to create…you know, some sort of William look-a-like to take his place in the real world, like how XANA does it with its polymorphic clones."

"Clones…that's a great idea Aelita." She smiled at Jeremie's praise.

"Sure Jeremie, but don't forget about buffing up my outfit. A cat only has so many lives…"

"And could you make William's clone less cocky while you're at it perhaps?" suggested Yumi.

"Well, I'll see what I can do. I suppose we can go with the 'William is sick' excuse for several days while I compile William's clone. But with homework starting to pile up and an increased frequency in XANA attacks, I don't know how long these ramifications will take."

Worried by Jeremie's hint of pulling more all-nighters, in addition to skipping meals and classes, Aelita promptly piped up her offer of assistance. "Well Jeremie, maybe I can help out. After all, two heads are better than one."

Jeremie looked over at Aelita and smiled. "Sure. I'd like that."

Yumi nodded. "No rush Jeremie. I doubt William can take on all four of us again that easily. We were just caught off guard this time."

As they approached the front of the school, Yumi bade the others goodbye and headed home. Unlike most students, Yumi lived with her family off-campus, since her father worked at the nearby nuclear power plant.

* * *

><p>The three then headed to the school's cafeteria for an early dinner. After all, they had their geography presentations the following day, and all three of them wanted to get off to a good start in their second-last year of Kadic. As usual, Odd was already on his third helping before Jeremie and Aelita were even halfway through theirs.<p>

"Odd, you either have a black hole or some sort of inter-dimensional teleportation device in your stomach. Seriously, where does it all go?" Jeremie inquired while Aelita snorted into her water.

"Elementary, dear Jeremie. Failing a math quiz, shot in the chest by William and running 1.5 kilometres during gym class, in which you conveniently sat out of has led me to possess a ferocious appetite."

His two friends laughed, knowing that they could always count on Odd to brighten up any disappointing day.

"Seems like this day turned out alright in the end," said Aelita with a sigh.

"I suppose. At least we have a plan now. If only we knew more about what XANA's after, besides your memories. I mean, I thought that XANA only desired our eradication; in addition to world domination. But now, it seems that the deeper we dig to uncover the secrets of Franz Hopper and LYOKO, the more likely that XANA's after something else as well."

The girl nodded. "XANA's obviously trying to cover something up."

"Oh quit being worrywarts you two. I'm sure that your brilliant minds combined will think of something to handle whatever XANA throws at us. And this includes extra homework, which Ulrich may not be up to the task for."

"Why, Mr. Della Robia, I didn't know you did motivational speeches," Aelita said jokingly.

"Yep it's all in my repertoire, along with battle cries and persuasive advertising. Versatility is the key, that's what I always say."

"Odd, you never say that."

"_Versatility is the key_."

"…Never mind."

After finishing the last of his fruit salad, and not really looking forward to a sample of Odd's battle cries (he already had enough experience of his friend's other verbal talents such as rapping), Jeremie picked up his tray.

"Alright. I'm going to add some final touches to my project and start working on William's spectre."

"Fine. But don't stay up too late," the pink-haired girl said sternly while wagging her finger.

Jeremie smiled. "Promise." And with that, the shortest member of Team LYOKO hurried off back to the factory. Having finally finished his super, Odd started to get up as well.

"So, any super-special plans this weekend?"

"Not really. There's not much after the geo assignment, so I was planning on helping Jeremie out with creating the William spectre and visit the Hermitage."

"Oh, cool. Can I come?"

"Umm...no."

"Aww," Odd whined.

Aelita chuckled. "Sorry Odd, I just want some time to myself. Maybe next time"

"No problem, I understand. Anyways, I gotta go. Kiwi's probably bored out of his mind by now."

"Alright, later Odd," said Aelita as Odd bounded out of the cafeteria. She had always liked Odd's happy-go-lucky approach to life, and how he rarely seemed down about anything, even with XANA and linear equations to solve.

* * *

><p>The boys' departure left Aelita to reminisce about a great many things.<p>

She couldn't help but always wonder about the normal life she could have had, without the supercomputer; being a regular student, just going through regular academic and social routines – studying, participating in extra-curricular activities, and hanging out with her friends. All without having to worry about some virus trying to take over the world and ruining everything that mattered to her…including her parents.

_Her parents_. Aelita had only recently learned that her father was the creator of LYOKO itself and chief developer of Project CARTHAGE, and that he was currently trapped somewhere within LYOKO's Digital Sea. On the other hand, she had no idea who her mother was, or her whereabouts. She had searched the Hermitage several times, without any luck of finding any traces of her existence. Even more troubling was that she was unable to remember pretty much anything prior to meeting Jeremie.

While she dreamt of her past from time to time, they were incredibly vague and usually once she woke up, she couldn't remember the finer details. She did manage to remember one of the more recent ones, however. The location was all too familiar – it was the living room of her old home. It was Christmas morning…and she was opening her last present from her parents, which turned out to be...an elf doll. _Mister Puck_. She recalled being overjoyed by the gift – it was something she had always wanted.

However, when she looked up to thank her parents, their faces were clouded. The edges of their faces were faintly outlined, and Aelita concluded that the woman with long pink hair which reached down to her chest had to be her mother. And that was the only shard of memory Aelita had of her family.

All of this was because of _stupid Project CARTHAGE and stupid XANA_. If it wasn't for that secretive government operation, she would still have her parents.

Family_. When you are with your family – the people you love – you are home_. Family: to have someone to confide to, to teach her what's right and wrong, to commend her achievements and most importantly – to guide her through life. She could have even invited her friends over during the weekends just to relax and enjoy themselves, not always gearing up for battle.

But then again, it was because of all this that Aelita had gotten to know Jeremie, Odd, Ulrich and Yumi; and she doubted that she could have ever found a better group of friends. They always supported her, helped her overcome whatever obstacles lay in her path.

True, the struggle against XANA was dangerous and at times terrifying, but it also provided a sense of pride for Aelita, knowing that she helped make the world a better and safer place. How many students could put that on their resume? (And how many employers would believe it?)

"Hey Aelita, you feeling alright?"

Aelita's mind snapped back to reality, as she looked up to find Ulrich with two bags, likely filled with food. She wondered if he remembered that there was no eating in the library.

"Oh…yeah, I'm fine. I was about to leave to meet Heidi to finish our geography project."

"I see. The others have headed out then?"

Aelita nodded. "Odd's with Kiwi and Jeremie's either in his room or back at the factory."

Ulrich sighed. Typical Jeremie, always spending more time in front of computer screens than human beings. And with that, he left for the library.

By now, the cafeteria was buzzing with students and one very irritated Jim Morales – a supervisor of many things – who was currently yelling at some senior students for not properly using the recycling bins.

Aelita silently vowed to uncover the details surrounding her mysterious past and find a way to reunite her family once again. And so, she put a smile on her face and finally left the cafeteria to meet Heidi in order to complete their project.

Even though she was in her second year at Kadic, it felt like it was only just the beginning of a great adventure. And with the inevitable, ever-increasing academic workload and more intense XANA attacks looming around the corner, there was only one certain outcome.

It was going to be another long school year.

* * *

><p><strong>Fragmented Legacy Fun Fact 001:<strong>

This story essentially picks up from Season 2/3 of Code Lyoko, with some changes – the most apparent being the characters' ages. I think in the original TV show, Jeremie was like, 13 and everyone else was 14 – 15 years old. I upped their ages a bit in order to make romances (if any) more realistic and mature.

* * *

><p><strong>A|N's:<strong>

First chapter. First story. And the first time I ever wrote over 5000 words for anything. To all the William Dunbar fans out there, I apologize beforehand. I don't like him, and I will always be referencing him as a cocky cock, Captain Cockshaw or a variation of such.

I do not own Code Lyoko or French citizenship. This applies to every chapter.

One more thing, thanks for reading Code LYOKO: Fragmented Legacies =) Sit back and relax, because it's going to be an AWESOME adventure!


	2. 7:00 am is XANA's finest hour

**2: 7:00 am is XANA's finest hour **

* * *

><p>It was 6:59:38 am and the sun had yet to show itself. Besides for some occasional snoring and leaky faucets, all was quiet inside Kadic. Everyone was enjoying their final hour of sleep, including Jeremie.<p>

He had started compiling the code which would form the basis of William's double at the factory. Of course, he had returned to his dormitory before the 10:00 pm curfew to avoid explaining to Jim Morales - of all people - why he was out late at night. Rather than collapsing onto his bed however, he turned on his desktop and continued working on the clone.

Once again, Jeremie had completely disregarded Aelita's recommendation of getting a good night's rest. He was doing all of this for her and the greater good, and reasoned to himself that a couple of hours of sleep could be sacrificed for necessary productivity. And so, it was half-past-one before his eyelids grew heavy and he dozed off while still sitting in front of his computer; monitor abuzz with the script for the clone nearly a quarter complete.

But as the clock struck seven, an all-familiar beeping sound coming from his computer, which immediately got his attention.

"Wha–" Jeremie muttered as he felt around his desk for his glasses. His eyes widened when he saw the red tower in front of him.

_Oh no_. XANA's up to no good again. But _this early_?

As if injected with a sudden adrenaline rush, the teenage boy quickly got up. He typed in several lines onto the command console to obtain more details about XANA's latest offensive. Next, he rummaged through his drawers for his mobile phone and called Aelita, hoping that she had kept her phone on 24/7 like he told her to.

"Come on…pick up already…" Jeremie muttered while attempting to get dressed at the same time. He was halfway done putting on his sand-coloured trousers when Aelita groggily answered the call.

"H-h-hello?"

"Aelita, it's me."

"What's the m-matter Jeremie?" asked Aelita, yawning.

"XANA has launched an attack in the Forest sector. Try and get to the factory ASAP."

That seemed to have woken up Aelita and she responded sharply.

"Alright, I'll call Yumi. You go get Odd and Ulrich." And with that, she hung up as Jeremie called Odd's mobile; seeing as Ulrich had his phone suspended last week. But that's another story.

On the fourth ring, he heard barking coming from Odd's end of the line.

"Quiet Kiwi, you don't want Jim to hear you. Sorry Einstein. What's up? Did you have that nightmare about the blue screen of death again?"

"No, Odd. By the way, you seem to be awake and energetic."

"What can I say? If you get your eight hours of sleep a day, you'd feel the same J. Hey that rhymed!"

"Yeah. We know you're a regular Robert Frost. Listen, XANA's at it again, and I need you and Ulrich to get to the factory ASAP."

"I dunno Jeremie. Ulrich gets real mad when you disturb his sleepy time."

"I don't care. Use any means necessary, but I need you both at the factory _now_! Who knows what XANA's up to? Or are you forgetting that William is on its side as well?"

"Alright, alright. More the merrier. Got it. I'll be there in ten minutes. And if I'm not…it's all Ulrich's fault."

"Whatever," said Jeremie as he ended the call and left his room in a hurry, running past a snoring Jim.

* * *

><p>Fifteen minutes later, Team LYOKO had assembled in the lower levels of the abandoned factory. Ulrich appeared half-asleep and evidently struggling to keep his eyes open. On the other hand, Yumi was huffing and puffing after sprinting nearly two kilometres from her house.<p>

"So, any ideas on what this is about, Einstein?"

"I don't know. That's why I wanted all of us here, awake and attentive, eh Ulrich?" Jeremie added as he saw Ulrich propped up against the wall, eyelids closed.

"Aww. Looks like someone stayed up a little too late doing his homework," Yumi smirked between breaths.

"Too much of a good thing, I suppose," said Aelita.

"I'll get his attention," said a brave, bold Odd as he approached Ulrich, then yelled into his ear.

"ULRICH! CANADA WAS WHAT NOW?"

This startled Ulrich so much that he jumped at least two feet into the air, and he started blabbering about the True North Strong and Free.

"Sorry Mrs. Hertz. So as I was saying, Canada is the second largest…no wait…fifth...umm...uh...third…fuc-, I mean, umm…second largest country in the world! Yeah! Exactly! And…" And that was when Ulrich suddenly realized that he was not in the classroom, while the others tried their best to contain their laughter.

"See? Told you it would work!"

"Odd, I'm going to kill you. Then, I'm going to bring you back from your grave and kill you again," muttered Ulrich through clenched teeth and an expression of clear embarrassment.

"Well, you can murder Odd later. But right now, head for the scanners."

Aelita, Odd, Ulrich and Yumi headed down to the scanner room, where the three cylindrical pods linked to the supercomputer by various wires awaited them.

"You sure you're up for this? We don't want you falling asleep while fighting."

"Very funny Yumi," replied Ulrich as he stepped into the scanner.

"You sure? No Red Bull, caffeine or anything for the empty fuel tank?" snickered Odd as he and Aelita both entered the scanners.

"Shut up, Odd." Clearly, this was becoming a favourite catchphrase.

From one floor above, Jeremie placed his headset on and began his traditional virtualization speech.

"Alright. Transfer, Ulrich. Transfer, Aelita. Trans–"

"Hey Jeremie, why do you say 'transfer' this and 'scanner' that all the time?"

"No time for that Odd," said Jeremie as he continued.

"Scanner, Ulrich. Scanner, Aelita. Scanner, Odd. And – virtualization. Okay Yumi, your turn now."

* * *

><p>Soon, the four warriors landed on LYOKO's Forest sector, one of the digital world's four distinct topographic locations. It looked the same as ever, with its tall dangling trees, rolling landscape and narrow grassy paths encompassed by a yellow-brown background.<p>

"Alright Jeremie, where's the activated tower?" asked Aelita.

"Not too far from where you guys are right now. I'm uploading your vehicles," he added as he pressed the 'enter' key.

Three modes of transportation materialized in front of them. Odd jumped onto his thin OverBoard while Ulrich climbed onto his sleek OverBike, which left the stable OverWing for Yumi and Aelita to board.

"So Jeremie, any idea what XANA is up to? Apart from depriving us of an hour of sleep?" inquired Ulrich as Team LYOKO sped towards the activated tower.

"No idea. I've been checking local news sources, cameras around the factory and on Kadic grounds. It doesn't seem like anything's going on in the real world. No abnormalities, no monsters…nothing."

"Figures XANA's trying to make me fail geography," mumbled Ulrich.

"I'm sure you'll do fine," said Yumi.

"Yeah, just picture the class wearing nothing but underwear when you present. Except me, of course."

"Shut up, Odd!" the rest of the group exclaimed.

"Anyways guys, there's the Tower…and it looks like we got company."

A platoon of XANA's monsters blocked their way to the Way Tower, which was emitting a red aura. Two Tarantulas were situated beside the cylindrical vessel and a squadron of Hornets were hovering above.

Odd sighed. "Isn't there ever one time when we can just walk right up to a Tower and deactivate it without a fight?"

"Probably not," said Yumi.

"Right then. Ulrich and I will take care of the monsters. You two get to the Tower. The simple diversion. I don't want to miss breakfast because of all this."

"Watch out!" yelled Yumi as the Tarantulas saw them advancing and moved towards them while firing a barrage of lasers. Ulrich barely managed to navigate through multiple laser blasts from the oncoming mecha-arachnids, while Aelita had produced her bright pink energy field to deflect shots as she and Yumi flew past the monsters.

Unfortunately, Odd was forced to tilt his vehicle to absorb the blasts. The OverBoard was instantly digitized as he landed on the ground on his feet, like all cats.

"LASER ARROW!" he yelled and fired his trademark projectiles at the incoming Hornets. The first one was dodged by an incoming Hornet. But the second bullet found its target – the Eye of XANA on another one of the bee-like monsters, and it exploded into scrap metal.

"One down, two to go!" Odd cheered, as the other two Hornets turned round.

"Good job, Odd. By the way, why do _you _say 'Laser Arrow' all the time? You sound like some sort of Digimon or something."

"No time to chat about that Jeremie," the feline boy replied as he targeted the remaining Hornets. But he was hit first with a volley of laser fire. Further up ahead, Ulrich leapt off his uni-motorcycle and brandished his weapon: a katana with the ability to deflect laser fire. It was essentially a lightsaber-sword hybrid.

"Triplicate!" Ulrich said as he replicated two clones and sprinted towards the Tarantulas. Confused by which was the real Ulrich, the monsters took no chances and fired at all three of them. However, they only managed to take down two of the three 'Ulrichs'…

Which turned out to be the doppelgangers.

The real Ulrich jumped upwards and stabbed one of the Tarantulas in its XANA's Eye, destroying it. The remaining one began firing rapidly at Ulrich, and despite Ulrich's attempts to deflect the shots, several of them hit his lower torso. He was clearly moving more sluggishly than usual - normally, blocking laser fire was his specialty. But without a hearty bowl of oatmeal...

"Ulrich, snap out of it…you lost nearly all of your life points. One more hit, and it's over for you," came Jeremie's voice over LYOKO.

"Got it." Rolling to the side, he bent his knees and leapt towards the Tarantula and hurled his katana at the monster's Eye like a javelin. Simultaneously, the Tarantula shot him at point-blank and the young Shinobi was instantly devirtualized.

"Ulrich!" Yumi cried.

"He did his job, Yumi. Hurry up and get Aelita to the Tower."

Ulrich soon emerged from the scanner room and headed upstairs to join Jeremie.

"Did I kill it?"

His teammate moved over to allow him to see the LYOKO map on the computer screen, which was now Tarantula-free.

"Of course," he replied with a smile, which was abruptly replaced by a frown as he glanced back to the computer screen. "It looks like things are going to be a bit harder now though."

"Why's that?"

"He's here."

"William?"

Jeremie nodded, and pointed to the red dot which just materialized onto his screen between the Tower and the two female LYOKO warriors.

Back on LYOKO, the situation was becoming dire. Odd had managed to take down another Hornet, but he was short on life points and was out of ammunition.

"Jeremie, I'm out of arrows. A little help here?"

"Sorry, Odd. It'll take me one minute. William's shown up."

"Fine, but make it–" he never got to finish his sentence, as he was devirtualized from a Hornet head shot.

"Dammit. If Jeremie ever finds the time to modify my outfit, it'd better come with at least 20 more arrows, no, 20 more _homing _arrows," Odd mumbled to himself as he came out of the scanner, defeated.

* * *

><p>"Aelita, get to the Tower. I'll handle William," said Yumi before getting off the OverWing to confront the brief former member of Team LYOKO. While the tall, slim teenager with spiky long black-hair known as William Dunbar still had that cocky smile etched on his face, his avatar outfit had changed considerably upon joining the Dark Side. His suit was now jet-black with a few red stripes and decorated with the Eye of XANA. His massive sword, the Zweihander now had blackened veins pulsating along it.<p>

**William Dunbar  
>Age: 17<br>LYOKO avatar: Evil Cloud Strife from Final Fantasy VII.  
>Rating: D for Dick!<br>Fun**** facts:  
>He was nicknamed 'Captain Cockshaw' at his previous school.<br>On pace for a Kadic record – Most Classes Skipped (the previous record was 13, set in 1984).**

"So William, ready to have your ass kicked?" asked Yumi as she brandished her weapons – two fans which were similar to the Light Discs in Tron.

"Hmph," came Cocky Cock's gruff reply. He attacked first, sending a stream of black energy towards Yumi, who was completely caught off guard and fell back several metres.

"Yumi!" Ulrich cried.

"You only have twenty life points remaining," Jeremie added.

At the same time, the lone Hornet had caught up to the OverWing. It fired two shots and scored a direct hit on the OverWing that digitized the vehicle as Aelita fell off. As she righted herself on the sector's surface, she quickly created a pink ball of energy in her left hand and tossed it at the bugger; which fell way short of its intended target. Aelita forgot that her _right_ hand was the dominant one. And then –

"Watch out behind you!"

The pinkette turned around and saw the Scyphozoa slowly gliding towards her. She tried summoning another sphere of energy, but this time only a couple of sparks appeared and fizzed out as she backed into a grassy cliff.

Once again, she was trapped. The monster extended its tentacles and initiated the memory modification process.

Meanwhile, William fired another dark energy blast at Yumi; but this time, she was ready. She somersaulted over the blast, and threw one of her fans. Not expecting her to be able to avoid his attack, William was struck by the fan and disarmed as he fell to his knees. His massive sword, the Zweihander clattered several metres away.

"You lose, William," said Yumi coldly. As she moved in to take him out with her remaining fan, William looked up with a pleading look.

"Y–Yumi, h-h-help…XANA…my head…" he said weakly, raising his hand.

She hesitated. Was he not fully under XANA's control after all? He seemed to have returned to normal. Indeed, the XANA mark on his uniform was disappearing. Yumi slowly leaned forwards.

"Yumi! Snap out of it!"

Ulrich's voice pierced through Yumi's conscience. She looked down to see a smirk already begin to return to William's face, as his free hand began conjuring up another dark blast.

"God damn it," Yumi muttered as she quickly retracted her hand, leapt backwards and hurled her fan at William. He digitized it with his dark sphere and looked around for his sword.

Which was in Yumi's hands.

"Looking for this, William?"

The Zweihander was undoubtedly heavy – even with both hands, Yumi struggled to wield it. But that didn't stop her from swinging it at Captain Cockshaw. It caught him in the chest as he dissolved into thin air with a mixture of shock and frustration.

"Nice one Yumi!" said Ulrich.

"Yumi – 1, WilliXANA – 0."

"Damn right, Odd." She dropped William's massive sword before it too vanished.

"I hate to interrupt the party, but Aelita's in trouble. The Scyphozoa is extracting her memories!"

"Got it, Jeremie," Yumi replied as she retrieved her fan. She turned to see Aelita being suspended by the Scyphozoa's tentacles; two of which were inserted into Aelita's head.

"HAI-YAH!" exclaimed Yumi as she threw her fan shuriken-style, which ripped through the tentacles and forced the maimed memory-modifying monster to retreat.

"That was eas–" Yumi never got to finish her sentence, because the Hornet that everyone forgot about had devirtualized her.

While the monster had focused on Yumi, Aelita successfully conjured an energy ball – this time on her right hand. The Hornet didn't even have time to swerve away or counterattack, and was obliterated by the power of pink.

"Fantastic, Aelita."

"All done before school starts," Odd happily exclaimed. Aelita laughed and headed off to finish the job.

Back in the scanner room, Yumi emerged in a heap, exhausted by the fight with William. She groaned before hearing Ulrich's voice.

"Remind me to buy you an Easy Button for your next birthday," he said as Yumi brushed her hair out of her eyes and chuckled.

Aelita had entered the Tower and headed towards the centre of the platform; the path illuminated by white lights as she walked through. She then floated to the top before stepping down at the highest platform. A screen materialized in front of her as Aelita placed her right palm on it and it began verifying her identification.

NAME: … AELITA_

CODE: … LYOKO_

"Tower…deactivated," said Aelita, as the blue walls of the Tower dimmed; erasing themselves of XANA's temporarily-stored data.

* * *

><p>"So, still no clue on what XANA was up to?" asked Odd. Classes did not start for another hour, and they were all incredibly famished as they walked towards the cafeteria.<p>

"It was trying to get us late for class so we'd flunk our presentations?" suggested Ulrich.

"That wouldn't work Ulrich. We could've just programmed a 'return to the past'."

"Oh…right, I forgot about that."

"Well there has to be a reason…there always has been," said Yumi.

Jeremie nodded. As far as he knew, XANA was an objective-based program; there had to be some underlying motive for it to have attacked. Perhaps it was to test its extent of control over William. Or maybe it was just trying to catch them off guard, while they were still sleepy and unfocused.

"Well, at least we're in the all clear now. We beat William and we still have time for breakfast. Not a bad start to a crummy day ahead!"

Ulrich groaned. He always dreaded class presentation days. Not only did he have a severe case of stage fright, but it also meant sitting in class all day long listening to _other_ presentations; which could get quite tedious and boring. And he was definitely not the type of person with a long attention span.

He felt a soft hand on his shoulder and looked to his side to see Yumi with a reassuring smile.

"Don't worry so much about it. You and Melanie put a lot of effort into it, so I'm sure you'll do fine."

"Yeah, Ulrich. Cheer up. Working with Melanie is a guaranteed B plus or higher."

"Just make sure you speak loud and clear and make good eye contact. And –" Yumi sighed, "– if it helps, you can imagine everyone's in nothing but their undergarments."

"Except me," added Odd.

That seemed to calm Ulrich's nerves a bit. He even managed a weak smile. "Thanks you two."

Behind them, Aelita noticed a slight crease on her friend's forehead.

"Something the matter, Jeremie?" she asked.

"Oh…it's nothing. Well…technically it's something…I mean…I'm still wondering what was XANA's reason for its attack today."

_I wonder…_

* * *

><p>Thousands of miles above Kadic Academy, a passenger jet was making an early morning flight to Paris-Charles De Gaulle Airport from Toronto Pearson International Airport in Canada.<p>

For the veteran Captain Jonathan Smith, it was another routine flight. It had been a smooth ride across the Atlantic, with minimum turbulence – abnormal for this time of year, but no one would complain.

After all, turbulence is possibly the scariest element of traveling on an airborne object – apart from cold airplane food or live snakes.

However, just over half an hour ago, as they had just crossed into French airspace, something strange had happened.

The Captain and his co-pilot were at a loss for words. The plane appeared to have changed course on its own, veering off its southeast heading. At least, that was what the communications systems indicated before shutting off. The engines were still functioning – they were still flying, albeit with a sudden drop in altitude – but it seemed that they had lost manual control over the aircraft.

A female flight attendant walked into the cockpit, informing him of the disabled electrical systems. Without a hint of panic, he informed her that it was merely a technical malfunction and suggested that they served breakfast a little earlier than usual. The hostess nodded curtly and left, closing the door behind her.

Utterly bewildered, Captain Smith turned back to his controls and was surprised that he hadn't noticed it earlier.

There appeared to be a faint, fuzzy image on the downed screens; which unmistakably resembled some sort of eye…or a dartboard supported by three beams.

Of course, there was one passenger who recognized the threat several minutes before Captain Smith.

One boy, who sported a Toronto Maple Leafs cap and jersey.

Slivers of his sky-blue hair protruded through – which was just a tad out of the norms, more appropriate for something like an anime convention. Furthermore, there were bags under his red eyes – perhaps a result of the incessant amount of time he had spent in front his laptop. From any passers-by's point of view, it merely looked like he was similar to others of his age and was addicted to online gaming.

Closer observation – to the point of snooping, would prove otherwise.

On one window was Google maps, which displayed a map of Paris marked with numerous points. There was also another tab that was uploading the most recent Naruto manga chapter. Another window was set to Notepad – in which the file was a long list of what appeared to be computer code.

But it was the final program that was most intriguing. It resembled a science fiction navigation screen aboard a starfighter, with moving bars and objects, lines of code at the bottom that seemed to be self-replicating and realistic visuals. The ones that stuck out the most was the flashing red cylindrical structure.

"Crap."

Seven minutes later, the in-flight entertainment systems turned off completely.

**?  
>Age: ?<br>Rating: ?/?, where ? cannot equal zero  
>? facts:<br>Blue hair.**

He turned towards the aisle and asked the nearby flight attendant: "excuse me, what's going on?"

"I don't know, sir," she answered with what appeared to be a sense of urgency before continuing her way towards the front of the plane.

? noticed that the plane had turned sharply to the left, and concluded that they must be now heading north. He also knew who – or what – was most certainly behind all of it…but nobody would believe that an evil virus within a supposedly dormant supercomputer from the Cold War era had hacked into the plane's internal systems.

Despite his lack of experience or proficiency in programming, ? attempted to manually override XANA's control over the aircraft – typing lines of codes with no success. The aircraft had decreased its altitude greatly, and he knew that a crash or collision was imminent. But there was nothing he could do. He rubbed his bloodshot eyes furiously.

_Well, it was worth trying._

* * *

><p>Fortunately, twenty five minutes later, the in-flight entertainment systems flickered back to life; power was restored and the plane was increasing its altitude. Moments before, ? could make out the faint outlines of skyscrapers from the side window, showing how close the aircraft had been to colliding with the superstructures. Those who were awake showed signs of fear, yet thought that such a disaster was impossible; surely this situation was all under control.<p>

They were right.

"Your attention please, this is your Captain speaking. There appeared to be a slight malfunction on the aircraft's electrical systems for the past half hour. These problems seem to be restored, and we are back on course for Paris. Unfortunately, we will experience a delay of about thirty minutes and we apologize for the inconvenience."

Ignoring the French translation of the announcement, the exhausted boy looked back on his screen to find that the Way Tower had returned to its normal blue state.

"That…was close," he said to himself while smiling slightly.

_It realizes that I'm a threat. This is going to be quite interesting. But I wished this program had more visuals than just stupid Way Towers._

He relaxed, shut off his laptop and closed his eyes.

_But, if XANA was stopped…then that must mean that…she has awakened. Hmm…looks like someone already beat me to it. _

_Damn._

? then took out a long document, which was a bit yellowed from age and reread it with a sigh. His life had gone horribly downhill since his semi-sweet sixteenth birthday.

His parents died when he was only two. Since then, he had lived with his grandparents. On his sixteenth birthday four months ago, he received an anonymous letter telling him to pick up a package from a local storage facility.

The contents turned out to be nothing more than a bunch of old documents and artifacts, including the one he now held in his hands. It told him to go to Paris, among many other things. ? was really confused. Leaving his home to go to a foreign place all by his lonesome? ? did have some reliable contacts in Paris though, given past events. And as he read on however, he realized he had no choice.

This was a personal issue.

First, ? had to convince his grandparents, and promised that he would remain safe and in touch with them. Under the premise of pursuing a better education and gaining international experience, he applied for a student visa and to a prestigious academy in Paris. He was easily accepted, considering that he had consistently been ranked at the top of his class, much thanks to years of tutelage from his grandparents and his ability to grasp concepts quickly. The answers always seemed to just come naturally to him; a trait he shared with his father.

And now he was to be a high school student at the institution at which his father used to work for…Kadic Academy.

But ? knew that he must keep a low profile, regardless of how death and tragedy seemed to pursue him relentlessly. And of course, the student visa was only a temporary alibi. He was to blend in and act as a normal scholar to prevent arousing suspicion while he worked towards his true objective.

_Find Aelita Schaeffer._

**Aelita Stones / Hopper / Schaeffer?  
>Age: 16<br>LYOKO avatar: Elf  
>Rating: H for Hungry<br>Fun Facts:  
>She is right-handed.<br>Her favourite breakfast: buttered toast, sunny side up eggs, topped off with a glass of grapefruit juice.  
><strong>

* * *

><p><strong>Fragmented Legacy Fun Fact 002:<strong>

The word count for every chapter is an even number. In addition, the word count (except for the chapter sneak peeks sometimes) is always a multiple of 100.**  
><strong>

* * *

><p><strong>A|N's:<strong>

Hooray! The second chapter is up on time! I'll try to release a new chapter as often as I can to keep the ball rolling; although this may not always be possible.

Feel free to leave a comment, and as always, thanks for reading Code LYOKO: Fragmented Legacies =)


	3. Around the world in half a day

**3: Around the world in half a day**

* * *

><p>"What do you mean Arnold isn't the coolest character on the Magic School Bus?" said Aelita with a mock face of disbelief as the bells rang to signal the start of another day of classes.<p>

Having finished breakfast earlier than usual due to altercations with evil forces at the break of dawn, Aelita, Jeremie and Ulrich were already inside room 222. While Ulrich was feverishly running over his script with Melanie, his friends were arguing over a children's television program.

"Well…he chickens out of Ms. Frizzle's field trips all the time: 'I knew I should've stayed home today'", Jeremie scoffed. "I mean who _wouldn't _want to go around the solar system in a day? Now Dorothy Ann–"

"But he's–"

"Oh my. Talking about boring educational TV shows again are we?" came a sneering voice from none other than:

**Elizabeth 'Sissi' Delmas  
>Age: 16<br>Rating: -1/10  
>Fun facts:<br>Some people don't like being called a sissy. Not her.  
>Her favourite class is shopping and her least favourite class is physical education. Sadly, shopping is not in the curriculum.<strong>

Once again, she was making fun of Mr. and Mrs. Einstein – or so she liked to call them. And as usual, she was flanked by a short, weedy-looking kid with sweeping black hair:

**Herb Pichon  
>Age: 16<br>Rating: [cos(60) x 10] /10  
>Fun facts:<br>He sees himself as Jeremie's prime academic rival.  
>Derived Herb's equation of superiority: Herb Jeremie. Has yet to be proven.<strong>

She was also accompanied by a blonde-haired boy who looked like a rock star, yet sported a rather dumbfounded expression:

**Nicholas Poliakoff  
>Age: 16<br>Rating: F (for fail, not female or fantastic)  
>Fun facts:<br>Ever seen a report card with straight F's? Nicholas's parents have.  
>He thinks 'soccer' is spelt with 2 k's and a q (<em>sokkqer<em>).**

"Oh come on, Sissi. Just leave them alone," said Ulrich, looking up from his papers.

"Sorry, Ulrich _dear_. But honestly, the Magic School Bus? Who watches a show that makes science _fun_?"

"People who want to learn about the real world and enjoy a dose of humour at the same time. Seriously, just because you can't understand that Mars is the fourth planet from the sun–"

"Alright class, settle down," said Mrs. Hertz, their homeform teacher. The room immediately fell silent as Sissi scowled and went to her seat.

**Suzanne Hertz  
>Age: 58<br>Teaches: Science, Social Sciences  
>Rating: A+++<br>Factual facts:**  
><strong>She was once a professor at Oxford University in the United Kingdom (aka Great Britain).<strong>  
><strong>Teaching ideology: strictness gives you results…unless Odd Della Robia is in your class.<strong>

…But, where was Odd? That was what Mrs. Hertz was wondering as well. Usually, teachers check attendance in alphabetical order. Unlike usual teachers though, Mrs. Hertz always looked for Odd first; who showed up seconds later with an egg sandwich in his mouth.

"Mr. Della Robia, you're late _again_, and it's on a presentation day as well. I don't care if you were still hungry, but coming in to class after the bell is absolutely unacceptable and disrespectful to your classmates. I'm going to take fifteen percent off your mark from your presentation. Now hurry up and sit down."

Mr. Late's eyes widened, but he made no attempt to speak his case, fearful of losing even more marks. Sissi, on the other hand was livid that her partner had just ensured that the highest mark they could achieve was an eighty five.

"That's not fair Mrs. Hertz! Why should I be punished just because Mr. Eat-a-lot over there was too busy stuffing his face?"

"If you were truly concerned about your grades, then it should be your responsibility to ensure that your partner comes to class on time."

_Pwn'd, _thought Ulrich. While he did feel sorry for Odd, he'd take a Sissi letdown any day.

"Now, I hope you've all been working hard on these projects. So let's get right down to business." Mrs. Hertz took out a box that was filled with slips of paper that had the group members' names written on them. She then placed her hand in and picked out the first presenters.

Ulrich crossed his fingers. _Please don't be me please don't be me please don't be me_.

"And the first group to present…good grief Ulrich it isn't you, so stop acting like you're about to perform open heart surgery. The first group, well…first individual to present, Jeremie."

Since there were an odd number of students in the class, Jeremie had volunteered to work alone. And with a little help from a nearby supercomputer, conducting research on Japan and turning it into a multimedia seminar was no challenge at all. He didn't mind going first; it was better this way. He had received permission to leave after he had finished, which meant that he could go work on LYOKO stuff; including an interesting idea he just thought up of regarding Aelita's avatar modification.

Ulrich was relieved. Unfortunately, he forgot one of the important codes of in-class presentations:

* * *

><p><strong>Pres. Code #1<br>**_Some teachers mark easier for the first presenter, who sets the evaluation standards since there's no one else to base them on._  
><em>- In this case, since Jeremie 'Einstein' Belpois is going first, not only is Mrs. Hertz going to mark easier on him, but he is the one who sets the standard...a very HIGH standard.<em>

* * *

><p>"Good morning fellow classmates. Today, be prepared to embark on an exciting adventure in Japan; the land of the rising sun."<p>

Already, some students looked disinterested. Clearly, Mrs. Hertz forgot about another presentation code when she assigned this project:

* * *

><p><strong>Pres. Code #23<br>**_PowerPoint presentations are boring. Especially when you have to watch a lot of them for several hours in a row. Physical symptoms include an urge to doodle, daydream and feel distress and despair._

* * *

><p>Even though Jeremie's slideshow contained an immense amount of information, his visuals were amazing. He included breathtaking images and clips of Japan's landscape, and even a video on how to make a California roll; courtesy of Yumi's mother. Unfortunately, he couldn't prevent Presentation Code Item 23 from taking effect: Odd had started to doodle, Sissi had started to daydream and Ulrich was well on his way to feeling distressed.<p>

"In conclusion, from Mount Fuji to Mitsubishi Motors, from sakura blossoms to the longest suspension bridge in the world – Japan is a nation of unparalleled beauty and splendour."

Most students clapped politely, while Aelita (one of the few that had listened attentively) gave him a thumbs-up. Mrs. Hertz finished jotting down notes on her evaluation sheet and asked Jeremie to choose the next group from the box.

"Well done. The next group will be...Odd and Elizabeth."

"Good luck, I'll catch up with you guys later," said Jeremie as he packed up and left.

Odd strutted towards the front of the classroom. Elizabeth – or Sissi, was right behind him and still fuming over the marks she lost to an egg sandwich.

"Don't worry, Sissi…it's all under control. And if you went on Wikipedia more often, you would know that!" For once, Odd did most of the work in the project, so it was unclear as to why Sissi was complaining. Odd then turned to address the class.

"The Pyramids! The Eiffel Tower! The Great Wall of China! All of these are great feats of engineering! But…you won't find any of these at the place we're going to be talking about!"

Some laughed at what promised to be a very entertaining presentation.

"Yep – prepare to be intrigued and astonished by the wonderful, wickedly-wicked country of…" he trailed, pointing at Sissi to finish it off.

"Umm…right! Great Britain!"

All in all, the project went pretty smoothly. Sissi stuttered a bit from not rehearsing as much, but she was good at improv and was able to keep along. On the other hand, Odd just blew the audience away with his energetic presentation skills – hand gestures, expression and sense of humour – all the goodies of a good performance.

"And that's what makes Great Britain so gggrrrrrreat!" said Odd with a Tony the Tiger emphasis on 'great'. The whole class cheered.

"Well, I must say that your presentation was…interesting, but you two may want to check some of your facts."

"What?" exclaimed Sissi. "But we used an encyclopaedia!"

"Indeed you did. And it was the only reference in your assignment. First of all, one of the requirements was that you were to have at least three different references. And you should know that anyone can edit Wikipedia articles and falsify them. The last time I checked, the currency in the UK is the pound, not the Euro…and the River Thames is not the second longest river in the world."

"Those Wikipedia bastards…" cursed Odd as the rest of the class laughed.

Some of the following presentations were indeed entertaining and informative, while others failed to get their point across. Herb failed before he even uttered a single word; his PowerPoint failed to upload due to a compatibility issue. Naturally, Herb and his partner weren't amused that they got a zero, which meant that he most likely lost to Jeremie. Again.

Next was Nicholas on the United States of America. How hard could it be to conduct research on the foremost superpower in the world? Very. It was Nicholas, after all. In fact, his partner had decided to do the assignment on her own, due to 'conflicts of interest'. Twenty minutes later, the class had only remembered that America was the birthplace of McDonalds, and that they were getting quite hungry themselves.

On the other hand, Aelita and Heidi featured the 'Land Down Under' in a way that would have made Zoboomafoo a happy lemur. They captivated the class with clips of 'finding Nemo' in the Great Barrier Reef and the Australian Outback with its host of amazing creatures such as koalas, duck-billed platypuses and of course, kangaroos.

* * *

><p><em><strong>Pres. Code #17<br>**__Interesting videos and/or images can enhance your PowerPoint. For effectiveness with most girls and some boys, try incorporating baby animal pictures._  
><em>- Baby kangaroos for the win – even Sissi admitted they were super cute.<em>

* * *

><p><strong>YUMI<strong>_  
><em>

Meanwhile in classroom 113...

Mathematics was a subject of two extremes. Most students either loved the subject, or despised it to oblivion.

Yumi was sort of in between. She wasn't the type of person who aced all her tests, actively participated in class and slept with her math textbook. However, she knew the subject was critical to everything in life; including her post-secondary applications and future endeavours. Yumi didn't really have too much difficulty understanding the concepts, it was the higher-order thinking problems that proved to be a struggle and prevented her from getting into the A+ range.

They were still reviewing material from last year, and today's topic was Yumi's kryptonite.

Trigonometry.

Compared to other concepts, trig was hard for her to grasp; there were so many rules, special cases and formulas to comprehend. In addition, Yumi's mind was too busy focusing on other things.

Time seemed to zip by since she first stepped into Kadic Academy four years ago. And within ten months, she would graduate and move on. Yumi still hadn't decided where she wanted to go or what she wanted to study; although she always had an interest and aptitude in media arts. Of course, this also meant that she would have to retire as a LYOKO warrior. Without any employment benefits or pensions. Would they be able to defeat XANA and rescue William before that? And yet, there were still so many unanswered questions: Aelita's backstory, the 'Men in Black'… Of course, there was one more...thing that had been bugging her for the past year.

_Ulrich_.

Ever since preschool, Yumi's was always seen as being different because of her Japanese background. She had different customs; a different way of life. Whereas other kids brought lunch bags with sandwiches, Yumi had a bento rice box. Even though she excelled in her academics, no one besides her teachers would talk to her. Those who did were usually senseless male students who wanted to ask her out; and were promptly rejected. After all, they were only interested in her physical appearance, and nothing else. She had grown pretty tall and also developed more pronounced curves – particularly her chest – while maintaining her neck-length black hair and sleek dark outfit.

Yes, it was without a doubt that Yumi Ishiyama was hot.

But Ulrich wasn't like the others.

She remembered the first time they met, how she beat him in martial arts. But she was surprised by how he readily accepted her as just being someone to talk to, someone to hang out with when homework was completed. Ulrich also introduced her to 'Never a Dull Day' Odd and Jeremie. And two months later, Aelita would become her best confidante. Just like Jeremie, Yumi found out through being a member of Team LYOKO, that friends…weren't all that bad.

When William arrived, Yumi was initially glad that she had someone to talk to in class who shared a lot of common traits. Both were seen as outcasts and frequently squabbled with their parents. But as William started acting like a cocky cock and getting 'too close to her personal bubble', she decided that she no longer wanted to have anything to do with him.

Her mind wandered back to Ulrich and the moments. Sure, sometimes she had no idea why he did some of the things he did. He could be a complete fool at times – the pool incident among many others. Nevertheless, she admired his kindness, such as that time Sissi made fun of a young Milly for asking Ulrich to the dance. A hopeless crush. But he said yes anyways.

There was also that time when they were at the factory and Jeremie was programming away. She didn't get much sleep the night before and the factory was quite cold that morning. So, she rested her head on a snoring Ulrich's shoulder. It was pretty warm and cozy, and Yumi ended up dozing off. This made for a pretty cute picture on Odd's camera.

Then there was that time on LYOKO, when Ulrich saved her from falling into the Digital Sea...they had almost ki…

In the end, she told him that she wanted to remain as friends. Yumi felt that she wasn't ready yet. Already overwhelmed with XANA and exams, it just didn't seem like the right time. She liked Ulrich. Every time she saw him with another girl, she felt a deep twitch in her gut. After all, he was popular, gifted in all things athletic and had a 'cool' factor. However, she didn't want to risk losing their friendship. If you treasured something so much, would you be willing to gamble it all away?

Furthermore, her parents upheld Japanese traditions and culture with utmost strictness, and would certainly not approve of such a relationship with a 'foreigner'. Plus to them, it was too early for a teenager to be thinking of such long-term commitments.

Another problem was that she simply had no idea how to tell Ulrich her true feelings. Yumi tried to imagine such an opportunity:

"_Ulrich, the soup you made is delicious."_

_Ulrich smiled. "You did tell me that you liked cream of potato."_

_Now it was Yumi's turn to smile. "Well…while I do like this food, the thing I like the most…is you."_

* * *

><p>Absolute rubbish. Embarrassing. Such a fairy-tale sugar-coated moment just wasn't <em>her<em>. Yumi absolutely hated confiding to anyone about her feelings and revealing her sensitive side. Still, she didn't want people to think that she was a tomboy, but that she did indeed have delicate, feminine attributes. It was all very complicated.

"Ms. Ishiyama!"

Yumi snapped back to reality.

"Yes, Ms. Lebreton?"

"Oh, I finally got your attention. Can you kindly tell the class the angle of this triangle?"

**Minerva Lebreton  
>Age: 34<br>Rating: The derivative of {f(x) = 6x}/10  
>Fun facts:<br>She refers to all students by their surname only.  
>She is THE strictest teacher at Kadic. New students are advised to change their timetables.<strong>

It was the all-familiar right-angled triangle. The dimensions of its sides were given: the long side was two units long, the base length was the square root of three and the 'height' was a unit of one. The unknown angle was between the diagonal line and the base.

To find any interior angle was easy. _Just get a freaking protractor_.

Yumi knew that answer would have earned her a detention and so, she moved on.

"Yes, Ms. Ishiyama?"

"Uh…a moment please ma'am."

Someone at the back smirked: "and I thought Asians were good at math!"

Resisting the temptation to leap out of her seat and throttle her stereotypical classmate, Yumi tried to remember what Jeremie told her when she needed help last year. _How to solve bloody angles without a calculator or protractor_.

Pythagorean Theorem? No, that wasn't it. She already knew the dimensions. And it wasn't a sine or cosine law problem; that was too much work. Something simple… And that's when it came to her. Right-angled triangle? Yes. So…

SOH CAH TOA. The trig cheat or aid Ms. Lebreton never taught.

_Okay. H is the hypotenuse – which is the long side, so 2. O is for opposite – far side…it's 1. So I use SOH…the sine of the opposite divided by the hypotenuse._

"It's zero-point-five–."

"Ms. Ishiyama, I believe that I asked you for the angle."

"…Well, in that case…" Now it was easy. Yumi had a clear memory of the special triangle cases, having memorized them during a summer tutorial session via flashcards.

"The sine of a half is thirty degrees."

"And in radians?"

_Multiply by pi and divide by 180. And simplify. _"Pi over six...radians, ma'am."

"Yes, that is indeed correct–"

SOH CAH TOA instantly became Yumi's best friend for the day.

"–However, please try to stay focused on math Ms. Ishiyama and not daydream over your sick boyfriend. You can visit Mr. Dunbar after class."

A couple of students snickered. "They'll do more than that," one of them remarked.

"One more word from you, Mr. McDuffin and it's detention. Moving on to the reciprocal trigonometric functions…"

* * *

><p>It was nearly noon, and the students of room 222 had gone around the world, crossing through each continent multiple times; excluding Antarctica. Those who had paid attention to at least some of the presentations had gained invaluable insight of the world they lived in. Who (besides Jeremie) knew that Thailand was dubbed the 'Venice in the East' because of its massive canal systems?<p>

"And last but not least, Ulrich and Melanie."

"Come on, Ulrich. It's our turn," Melanie said as she shook her partner out of his catatonic state.

**Melanie Levesque  
>Age: 16<br>Rating: Prepared  
>Fun facts:<br>She knows how to make a delicious coffee cake.  
>She is trilingual; fluent in English, French, and Spanish.<strong>

The boy suddenly shifted his gears into high alert, sweat starting to form on his palms and throat drying up. The two headed towards the front of the class and inserted their memory stick into the desktop.

_Please work_, Ulrich prayed in his head. He didn't want to fail before even doing anything like Herb's group.

And he didn't, as their PowerPoint presentation soon projected onto the screen. Ulrich stared at the class and realized that most students were not even going to bother paying attention. But then he saw Aelita, who smiled and Odd, who whispered 'underpants'.

"Come on, Ulrich. I know you can do it," Melanie placed a hand on Ulrich's shoulder. His muscles seemed to have suddenly become less tense. He also remembered the advice Yumi gave him earlier this morning. Excluding that part about undergarments. Ulrich relaxed, closed his eyes for three seconds to organize his thoughts and began.

"Morning all. Nice to see that all of you are awake. Today, I'm going to be talking about Canada, the land of diversity, vast varying landscape and very good-tasting maple syrup."

All in all, it didn't go as bad as Ulrich had originally thought it would. He gradually gained more confidence as the presentation went on, and Melanie had the sort of charisma and enthusiasm as Odd did. While not as technologically advanced as Jeremie's, they had thoroughly gone over the geographical, cultural and political aspects of the northern nation.

"Wilfred Laurier, Canada's Prime Minister in the early 1900's said that the nineteenth century belonged to the United States–" began Ulrich.

"But he emphasized that the twentieth century will belong to Canada. And after truly becoming a country from sea to sea in 1949 to becoming a great, diverse cultural mosaic and being ranked the place to live by the United Nations several times in the 1990's, it looks as though Sir Laurier was bang on," Melanie finished.

The class applauded the two presenters, as well as for the fact that it was the last presentation they would ever have to listen to.

"Very good. Well, it appears that we still have some time left–" Some students started groaning.

"But, I think we could all use a break, so I'll let you all out early today," finished Mrs. Hertz.

The students were stunned. Mrs. Hertz being nice? No new lesson after a major project? Early lunch? After taking a couple of seconds to process the information, the students cheered and happily packed up.

"You're the best Mrs. H!" said Odd as he dashed to the cafeteria once more, his satisfactory presentation already a thing of the past. Aelita and Ulrich were about to leave as well, when:

"Ulrich, can I have a word with you please."

The boy gulped.

"I'm sure it's nothing...you'll be fine. I'll wait for you outside," Aelita said reassuringly.

The future captain and striker of the German football squad approached Mrs. Hertz's desk and prepared for the worst. _Did I do something wrong? Did I cheat? No, that can't be it._

"Well Mr. Stern, I must say that after everything that I've seen today, I–"

_Crap!_

"–am extremely pleased with your performance."

"Huh?" asked Ulrich with a blank, surprised expression.

"Your project clearly demonstrated a good understanding of your assigned country. You and Melanie followed all the requirements of the rubric, something that many groups ignored."

"Well, yeah. She told me that you should always check the rubric first."

"Hmm, looks like she's making a good impression on you already. Furthermore, I noticed that your oral communication skills have improved much from last year."

"Yeah…I sometimes practice in front of my friends, in my head and…yeah."

"That's good. All I can say is that you're off to a good start to this term, and I'd really like you to keep it up. I expect you to be working hard, but not cramming at the last minute as I presumed you did for the geography test."

"Well, yeah. I know I should've started studying earlier, but I was just…I had a lot of other homework."

Mrs. Hertz sighed. "Ulrich, I know this year might seem rough, but there's a lot of material to cover in the curriculum this year – no matter what subject. You just have to balance your time more effectively. And if you approach every assignment and test like what you've done for this one, you'll have nothing to worry about. But remember, if you have any doubts, my office is always open from 4:00 to 6:00."

"That said and given your excellent presentation today, I'm going to exclude your previous test from your geography grade."

Ulrich's eyes widened. "Really?"

Mrs. Hertz smiled. "I don't see why not. This project was a more in-depth evaluation of your understanding of a country's geographical, political and socio-cultural aspects than was on the test. And you and Melanie have definitely demonstrated a good understanding of that."

"Thanks Mrs. Hertz."

"Alright then, I won't disturb your lunchtime any longer. Keep up the good work!"

"Definitely," said Ulrich as he walked out of the classroom to find Aelita and Yumi waiting for him.

"I take it everything went well?" asked Yumi upon seeing the grin plastered on Ulrich's face.

"You know, I think geography just became my favourite subject."

* * *

><p><strong>Fragmented Legacy Fun Fact 003:<strong>

The mean teacher Ms. Lebreton is actually named after a bus station in Ottawa, Canada. I was on my way home from work when I passed by the stop, and I thought: _this sounded like a good name for a teacher, and it's French too_.

* * *

><p><strong>A|N's:<strong>

Last week, while flipping through the channels, I came across an old 1980's movie called "Pretty in Pink". The first thing I saw was the main character _who looked very much like a teenage Aelita_! (Google 'Pretty in Pink Molly Ringwald') I also thought her best friend Duckie was the guy who played Ferris Bueller in Ferris Bueller's Day Off. During the end credits, I realized that it was one of the men from Two and a Half Men.

Initially, this was supposed to be the first Code LYOKO Short Story (CLSS). However, it soon became a full chapter because I also wanted to talk about what was going on in Yumi's class was well.

Feel free to leave a comment, and as always, thanks for reading Code LYOKO: Fragmented Legacies. Hope you had fun picking up tips on presentations and trigonometry as well (it's easier than it sounds). XANA will be back kicking butt next chapter. =)


	4. The coming storm

**4: The coming storm**

* * *

><p>"<em>Mr. Dunbar, what are you doing back there?"<em>

"_I'm reading a book. It's called Harry Pot–"_

"_I don't care what you're reading about. Put it away or I'll confiscate it. You're in class now young man, so pay attention –"_

"_How much?" _

_Several students gasped. Clearly, something had affected William's brain while he was ill. Rule number one in room 113 is that you never talk back to Ms. Lebreton; let alone twice. Reading about a fictional wizarding world during her class wasn't recommended either._

"_I–I beg your pardon?" his teacher said, aghast._

"_You asked me to pay Attention. How much do I pay him…or her…I'm not really sure if it's a guy's name or a –"_

_Ms. Lebreton approached William and grabbed his belongings._

"_Principal's office. Now. As for the rest of you, start working on homework questions 5.1 to 5.15," she said brusquely to her class of shock and muffled laughter._

* * *

><p>"Pff–HAHAHAHAHAHA!" snorted Odd when Yumi told the rest of Team LYOKO about William 2.0's eventful first morning during lunch.<p>

Yesterday, Jeremie had completed the script for William's clone and successfully materialized it in the scanner room. There didn't seem to be any problems upon initial observation; he looked like an exact carbon copy of the former LYOKO warrior and Kadic student. With Aelita's help and adhering to Yumi's specifications, Jeremie also toned down the clone's personality, in addition to hardwiring other basic human elements, such as common sense.

Although, he might have toned his personality down a little too much.

Today's events in the wonderful world of math class proved it; William 2.0 (aka 'William sans cocky') was having trouble in the communications department. It wasn't that the clone lacked the capacity or intelligence, but it had a one-dimensional algorithm of thinking and thus, could only interpret in the literal sense. It was unable to comprehend different meanings or loaded language, such as sarcasm.

"So, I'm guessing that if you told it to 'get lost'..." said Ulrich.

"Then we'll have a wild William on the loose and we'll have to put up 'MISSING KID: WILLIAM DUNBAR. REWARD: €1 IF FOUND, CALL …' Yeah, things might get a little…"

"Chaotic." Ulrich finished, as Odd choked on his milk. Aelita thumped him on the back several times.

"I didn't know he'd turn out like this. Sorry guys."

"Don't be silly Jeremie. You're the only one who could've done it, and you did a fantastic job. And for the record, he's much, much better than the original," said Yumi. Ulrich nodded fervently.

"Yeah, J. I'm sure everything'll be fine; other than the fact that he won't laugh at my awesome jokes anymore."

"Umm, what awesome jokes Odd?" inquired Ulrich. The others laughed. At Odd's expense.

"By the way Aelita, have you heard about the SubDigitals auditions?" asked Captain Funnily Unfunny as he left his seat.

"Sub...SubDigitals auditions?" Aelita sputtered.

Yumi chuckled. "Yeah. They put up flyers all over the school yesterday."

Aelita didn't know that. She had spent most of her time outside of class at the factory with Jeremie, working on William's clone.

"Did you know their drummer is actually Jim's nephew?"

Odd returned to the table and handed Aelita a flyer. "Here you go Princess."

"Thanks, Odd." She scanned the application form. The group was looking for someone from Kadic to perform the opening act in their annual winter concert at the Paris Waterfront in February. To be considered, all you had to do was submit a two to three minute demo of one of your compositions by the end of the week. That didn't seem too difficult. Two days was plenty of time.

Furthermore, the selected individual would then have to attend biweekly rehearsal sessions. However, the main selling point was that you got to hang out with a renowned band, and fine-tune your musical talents at the same time.

"Well, here's your chance DJ Lita!"

"You did say that you've always wanted to perform at a live concert…looks like a perfect opportunity to me."

"Y…yeah. I guess I – I should try…going for it."

Encouraged by her friends, Aelita could not wait for the rest of the day to finish so that she could get started on composing her perfect composition.

Only Jeremie seemed a bit disappointed. Deep down, he really wished Aelita or the rest of the gang didn't take notice of the SubDigitals posters. With XANA undoubtedly up to something these days and now a clone that had to be monitored, was there really time for another extra-curricular distraction?

"So, I guess you won't be able to help me today or tomorrow with upgrading the other outfits?"

"Well…I – I really want–"

"No, it's perfectly fine, Aelita. You have something more important to do than keeping XANA at bay. I understand."

"I never said that."

"Jeremie," warned Yumi.

"What? I'm just suggesting that it's just one small opening act up for grabs. Compare that to fighting against XANA and –"

Sensing an impending argument over the greater good, Odd jumped in to divert the conversation. Somewhat.

"Hey Einstein. About the mods...how's mine looking? Added those super explosive 100% accuracy AAA-type atomic homing laser arrows yet?"

"What?" asked Jeremie, mind still set on berating his friend.

"Odd's asking about our avatars," Ulrich replied.

"Oh…that. Well, actually I only finished Aelita's and Ulrich's."

"Aw man. Wait, you're saving the best for last though, right? So? How do they look?"

"Well, I made the outfits sleeker, so you all should be more manoeuvrable on LYOKO. And I also tweaked the armaments and added other features as well. For instance, Aelita now has –"

The bells rang to signal the end of their lunch break. Yumi immediately took Jeremie by the arm and muttered to him.

"It seems everything is going along well then. Can't you just give Aelita a couple of days to apply for the audition? You know how much this means to her."

Jeremie didn't want to admit it out loud, but Yumi could be very persuasive. He sighed. "Fine. I suppose it's alright. I…guess two completed avatars are enough to even the playing ground. For now." He then turned to face Aelita.

"Well...good luck."

"Thanks Jeremie," Aelita smiled.

* * *

><p><strong>AELITA<strong>

It was nearly ten, as Aelita put on her headphones once more to listen to her partially-completed demo on her laptop. It was becoming a consistent pattern: work on it for ten minutes, then stop and listen to it. After all, it had to be perfect. Performing for such a group as the SubDigitals was almost an once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.

It was without a doubt that Aelita Amadeus Mozart has some serious musical talent. Last year, she dazzled Kadic's art teacher Mr. Chardin during her first music class, who said that he had rarely ever taught anyone as musically inclined as her. In addition, she also proved herself as an adept DJ, and performed at several school spirit days and dances. Aelita appeared to possess the terrific trio combination of perfect pitch, metronomic sense of time and creativity.

All this was tied to another one of her memory fragments. She had a feeling that it was her father who was partly responsible for refining her musical abilities. When she first visited her old home, the Hermitage, she had a flashback of her dad teaching her to play 'Twinkle Twinkle, Little Star' upon seeing the grand piano in the living room.

_Hmm, the bass part seems to be a little too loud…it's getting hard to hear the other instruments…_ she thought and made to edit her work.

Suddenly, a window popped up on her laptop screen. Initially startled – had her computer caught a virus? – Aelita was even more surprised by the message.

_Aelita, come down to factory ASAP. I have something urgent to discuss with you.  
>Franz H.<em>

Even though the message was a brief two sentences, Aelita reread it again and again. And now she was faced with a major dilemma.

Should she go?

She really wanted to meet her father. She had a lot of questions about…well, everything. From LYOKO to life. And of course, details pertaining to her mother.

On the other hand, it could just be a trap, set by XANA. But surely Jeremie would have noticed a XANA attack via his desktop alarm, and have come to alert her and the others?

In the end, her curiosity emerged victorious. Like many wise teenagers, she first checked the weather network for the current conditions outside, and decided to slip on her pink hoodie. As she headed for the door, Aelita stopped and took out her cell phone.

She was about to call Jeremie, when she remembered that he would, no he _should _– he promised – be asleep by now. Aelita didn't want to interrupt him as he was catching up with his rest. And she didn't want to disturb the others either. But, just in case…should any trouble arise, she left text messages on Odd's and Ulrich's mobile devices.

_Gone 2 Lyoko. Got text from FH.–A_

Aelita quietly stepped outside of her room and, making sure Jim wasn't anywhere nearby, proceeded down the stairs and headed for the abandoned factory.

* * *

><p>The Princess descended onto LYOKO's Ice sector. Clearly, global warming was not an issue within this virtual world. There were mountains upon mountains of ice sheets and icebergs encompassed by the Digital Sea and a navy blue landscape. Aelita glanced around and didn't see any of XANA's monsters. A good sign.<p>

She also noticed something different about her outfit; Jeremie really did a number when he modified it.

Aelita paused to admire her friend's work. Whereas her old outfit consisted of a pink skirt and top that made her look like a woodland sprite, her new one was much more…modern. A full body pink jumpsuit with a seemingly transparent skirt and shoulder blades. The new suit was just as Jeremie described: lighter, more comfortable and enabled greater flexibility. In addition, there was a star-shaped bracelet attached to her left arm.

She then remembered the main reason why she was on LYOKO. And it was not to hold a personal fashion show.

"Da…Daddy?" she called out with uncertainty.

No reply. Nothing happened. All Aelita could hear was the sloshing sound of the waves against the ice sheets. She started walking in the direction of the nearest Way Tower. Perhaps that was the meeting place.

As she rounded a block of ice, something began to surface from the Digital Sea. She turned to face what appeared to be a giant floating sphere that had a sky blue glow. But before she could do anything, it engulfed her and for a while, all Aelita could see was a stream of white light...

"Hello, Aelita. Long-time no see."

The girl turned to face a grey-haired bearded man with opaque spectacles. Objects materialized around her, transforming the empty white space into what appeared to be a living room.

A living room with an interior design much similar to that of the Hermitage.

"D-daddy?"

"Long-time no–" Before he could even finish, Franz Hopper was smothered by his daughter's embrace.

She pulled back just a bit. "Daddy, what are you doing here?"

"Just wanted to give you a sense of homecoming. Do you like it?"

"It's…it's beautiful. Is...this is the Hermitage, right?"

"Affirmative."

Aelita looked around. There were photos hanging above an active fireplace. From beyond the living room entrance, she could smell something like...cookies baking in the oven. Already, she was beginning to feel at home.

"Daddy…I'm so glad…you're alright. There's so many things I wanted to ask you."

"Would you like to listen to some music?" Franz Hopper asked.

Aelita didn't even have to say yes, as her father headed to the grand piano and began playing 'Twinkle Twinkle, Little Star'.

When he had finished, Aelita clapped enthusiastically.

"That was great."

"All the best for you, Aelita."

Her attention went back to the ever-present smell of warm cookies.

"So...where's mommy?"

Franz Hopper appeared perplexed.

"Mommy?"

Aelita giggled. "Don't be silly daddy. Where's mom?"

Her father readjusted his glasses.

"…I don't know what you're talking about, Aelita. Would you like to listen to some music?" he asked as he stood up and made his way towards the piano again.

Aelita stopped smiling. Something wasn't right. She turned to look at some of the photo racks over the fireplace and was surprised by what she saw; what she failed to notice earlier in light of her excitement.

All of the photos…had only two people – herself and her father. And yet…there appeared to be a third body in several of them. But there was no head…just a blank white circle.

"Dad, where's mom?" she asked with a distinct change in tone.

Her father turned around. "Mom...what a silly concept. She doesn't exist. And that's quite enough from you young lady."

The pinkette stared at him incredulously. "How can you say such a thing?"

Franz Hopper walked up to her and as he came nearer, Aelita could see a fuzzy 'A'-like outline beginning to form over his glasses.

XANA's eyes.

* * *

><p>It was a trap. And she fell for it. Why didn't she see this coming? And then Aelita realized why; she was simply too happy. She wanted this to be true; to finally see her father, to finally see her mother. That she would believe anything…<p>

"It's time. I'll cut to the chase. _Where is he_?" Franz Hopper's voice sounded deeper and raspier.

"Wh-what?"

"He…Second One is coming. Where is he?" For some reason, Aelita could sense...what appeared to be fear, reverberating from XANA's words.

The Scyphozoa appeared from the doorway. Aelita screamed as XANA Hopper grabbed her by the neck and slammed her against the wall.

"_Where is he?_"

"I-I don't know who you're talking about!"

_"The Second One. Of you little brats."_

"I…what? I…I…" said Aelita as she struggled against XANA's vice grip.

It flung Aelita across the room. He then motioned for the Scyphozoa as it began gliding towards the girl.

_"If you won't tell me, I'll just have to extract what I need."_

"AELITA! Where are you?" said a voice overhead. That familiar voice…

"JEREMIE!"

"_What_?" XANA Hopper looked around, shocked.

"Aelita! Press the centre button on your wristband!"

She held up her right arm and did as Jeremie instructed. A pair of white wings sprouted from her back.

**Aelita Hopper: now twenty percent more heavenly.**

She didn't need to be told twice what to do. Aelita threw a pink sphere of energy at XANA Hopper, who dodged it as it took a chunk out of the house. Seizing the opportunity, she flew right through the newly created window, hoping XANA's insurance covered the damage.

"AFTER HER!"

Aelita had nearly reached the edge of the white surface, when a blast of dark energy struck her. Her wings disintegrated and she fell back onto the surface to see WilliXANA standing in front of her.

But it was only for several seconds, before Captain Cockshaw was shoved away by a flash of yellow.

Upon materializing into focus, the yellow flash turned out to be none other than

**Ulrich Stern: now with the supreme need for speed.**

The LYOKO's warrior's avatar – like Aelita's – had been modified and modernized. Apart from a full yellow and black suit, he had an extra katana. After all, two sharp XANA choppers were better than one. His speed and agility also appeared to have increased to better rival that of a XANA-controlled William.

"What are you planning this time, XANA?" Ulrich asked as he pointed his sword at Franz Hopper.

As William got to his feet, XANA Hopper appeared, revealing a face of utmost hatred.

"We're done here." And with that, the spectre clapped its hands together as it, William and the Scyphozoa, along with the white landscape disappeared with a cloud of darkness as the Ice sector expanded back into view.

"Hmm, it appears that XANA has deactivated its own Tower. I'll materialize both of you back now."

"Copy that, Jeremie."

The yellow flash then turned to his partner, who appeared to be at a loss for words.

"Aelita?" he asked as his fellow warrior's eyes suddenly slid out of focus, consciousness leaving her. The last thing Aelita saw was Ulrich trying to catch her before she hit the ground. And then everything went black.

"I didn't know you could pass out on LYOKO."

* * *

><p>The two boys were talking quietly in the scanner room, waiting for Aelita to wake up. Sure enough, she soon began stirring.<p>

"You all right?" Ulrich asked as he reached and helped her sit up.

Aelita slowly opened her eyes and turned to the source of the voice. Ulrich. She noticed that his hair was wrapped with a towel. Beside him was Jeremie.

She gently rested her hand over her head. "Y-yeah. I think so."

Although Jeremie was unmistakably relieved, those feelings were replaced with annoyance at his friend's foolishness.

"What on earth were you thinking? Going to LYOKO by yourself this late at night."

"Jeremie..." began Ulrich.

"You could have…well you did fall right into XANA's hands again! You do realize what you did was incredibly dangerous that was, right?"

"But Jeremie–"

"Couldn't this have waited until morning?"

"Jer–"

The boy continued his worrywart motherly rant. "You're lucky Ulrich managed to get your message. You know how worried I was? And–"

"JEREMIE! SHUT UP AND LISTEN!" Aelita yelled. Despite trying her best to contain them, tears began to well up in her eyes. She tried to brush them off.

Aelita was extremely frustrated with herself, and for worrying everyone with her actions. She thought she was doing the right thing. She thought she would actually get some answers and finally meet her father face-to-face after all these years. And in the end, she was horribly mistaken. But to also hear Jeremie scolding at her like that...was just too overwhelming.

The tech genius fell silent.

"I…I went to LYOKO because…I got…a message from...my father...Franz Hopper." As she struggled to speak, Aelita realized how stupid the whole situation now seemed. Jeremie was right. It was so painstakingly obvious XANA was behind it. And she went in anyways.

Ulrich showed a face of surprise, but Jeremie looked as though he was in deep thought. While he was working on Yumi's outfit, he did notice an activated Tower several minutes before Ulrich came to get him. However almost immediately, the glowing red outpost returned to its neutral blue state. And so he convinced himself that it was merely a glitch.

"Okay...well it turned out to be XANA impersonating as Franz Hopper. What did the message say?"

"He…he said get to the Ice sector ASAP and that there was, there was something urgent he needed to tell me. And...and that he didn't have much time."

Aelita looked at Jeremie. "I didn't want to tell you…because…you've had it pretty rough this week with the mods and the clone. I thought you could've used some rest. So I texted Odd and Ulrich."

The boy felt a pang of guilt. He _hadn't _been sleeping.

"XANA transported me to...the Hermitage. It looked just like the one in my dreams"

_XANA showing Aelita her memories? I thought it was trying to destroy them…_

"And…I did see my father. I thought it was all real. But when I asked where my mother was…he…he," Aelita couldn't go on, and began sobbing.

* * *

><p><strong>JEREMIE<strong>

Ulrich stared at Jeremie. _Do something_.

The other boy pointed to himself. _Me?_ Not really sure if what he was doing was right – not sure what he was even supposed to do, Jeremie crouched down and placed his hands on either side of Aelita's shoulder.

"Hey, it's…going to be just fine. It's okay. Ulrich and I are here now," Jeremie said as he handed her a pocket tissue.

Aelita sniffed. "Th-thanks."

They stayed like that for several minutes as Aelita wiped away her tears. And then Jeremie continued.

"So your father…well XANA said that your mother was –"

"Didn't exist," she said flatly.

"Ah." Jeremie understood. There wasn't any data on the supercomputer, the Hermitage...anywhere regarding Aelita's mother. And XANA was just a program bent on elimination. It couldn't understand humanistic concepts, including family relationships.

"And when he said that my mom's name sounded silly, I was able to tell that it wasn't my father. I also noticed the pictures at the house...they were all of me and my dad but, there was also a third person beside me...but the face was blank. So I tried to get up and leave. That's when the Scyphozoa appeared."

"Maybe XANA was just waiting to get the Scyphozoa in range. So it disguised itself as Franz Hopper to lure Aelita?"

"I don't know Ulrich. It also seemed odd that XANA just left afterwards as soon as you showed up, without a fight."

"Maybe your upgrades made XANA finally realize that Team LYOKO's just too full of awesome now, and that there's no way it could beat us."

"I don't think so." Both boys looked at Aelita.

"I…I think it was more of a recon mission. XANA thought I had intel on…it's weird, because XANA seemed a bit afraid."

"What?"

"It kept saying the same things over again: 'where is he' and something about a 'directive'. But, I had no idea what XANA was talking about."

Ulrich and Jeremie cast worried looks. Who – or what – could make XANA scared? Was it even _capable_ of feeling fear? And…even more pressing, would this unknown entity pose a threat to themselves?

"Wait…do you think…it could be the –"

Jeremie didn't need Aelita to finish, and gave a curt little nod.

AFG.

Agents of the French Government. The Men In Black. The relentless black-suited individuals that haunted Aelita's nightmares. The ones who were likely after the supercomputer for their own devious ends.

The three just sat in silence for several moments, contemplating how little they knew of what looked to be a future of increasing danger; both on LYOKO and Earth.

Jeremie, trying to be upbeat, was the first to get up; his irritation over Aelita forgotten.

"Well, no point in sitting here. Now that tonight's ordeal is over, we should probably return to Kadic. After all, I need to get my…seven hours of rest," he said, smiling weakly to Aelita.

The girl smiled back. "Good."

"Feeling better now?"

"Yeah, thanks to you two."

"Glad to be of service," said Ulrich with a little bow as his towel slipped off onto the floor.

"By the way, Jeremie. The mods you made on my avatar – the wings – it felt amazing. To fly."

Jeremie blushed at the compliment. "No problem, angel."

"What was that?" Aelita asked, breaking into a grin.

"Er...never mind. Come on, let's get out of here."

The three left the factory. They were once again puzzled by XANA's motives and were now also concerned with the coming storm. Something that had even XANA on its heels; pressing for information. On the other hand, the recent encounter with her 'father' only left Aelita with even more questions than answers. Nobody seemed to know anything about her mother; Aelita wondered if she really had ceased to exist, as XANA claimed.

Nevertheless, LYOKO once again brought the three closer into each other's lives. After all, Aelita, Jeremie and Ulrich now had to think of a cunning plan that would enable them to evade Jim Morales: the First Star Commander of Curfew Security.

* * *

><p><strong>Fragmented Legacy Fun Fact 004:<strong>

When I designed Aelita's character, I made sure to make her stand out. Although she may be the most emotional out of the LYOKO warriors, it is only because she was trapped within the supercomputer for 15 years; hence, at times, she seems a little immature.

* * *

><p><strong>A|N's:<strong>

Feel free to leave a comment, and as always, thanks for reading Code LYOKO: Fragmented Legacies =) As well, here's a short preview of what happens right before Chapter 5.

* * *

><p><strong>The Morning After Pill<strong>

There was a slight hint of frost on the ground and the temperature hovered just under ten degrees Celsius. It seemed that Old Man Winter had arrived in France ahead of schedule.

The early Bus 34 (nicknamed 'le Pill' for its tubular design) on its way to the suburban regions of Paris, had just dropped off a single passenger at the Kadic / College Station. He sported a Maple Leafs cap, with a knapsack strapped onto his back and carried a medium-sized rolling luggage. Equipped with the necessities to survive nine months of boarding school, Bryan set off towards the main entrance of the prestigious Kadic Academy.

He had arrived. And there was no welcoming party.

Not that Bryan had been expecting one. It was too early for such pleasantries. He took off his Leafs cap, which revealed his medium-length sky-blue hair, and took a moment to enjoy the view: mounds of damp bright-coloured leaves and never**-**ending lines of trees. And coming into the foreground, was the venerable institution itself.

Bryan smiled. He was back to where it all began.

_Only this time, it was to be the beginning of the end._


	5. The new students – part I

**5: The new students – part I**

* * *

><p>It was a rather chilly morning, and the overcast skies painted a gloomy scene above Kadic.<p>

It was dreary inside the school as well. September was coming to an end and schoolwork had kicked into top gear. Every teacher was seemingly oblivious to the fact that their students had work from other subjects to complete, as they continued to provide a steady stream of assignments and tests.

"Staying up late again?" inquired Yumi as she noticed Ulrich lagging behind with his head hung low. This was the consequence of solving polynomial equations at eleven thirty in the evening in preparation for another double-test Thursday.

"Ulrich?"

"Uggghhh…" was all the red-eyed zombie could muster.

He had originally planned on going to bed earlier, after one last review session in the library. It didn't quite work out; yesterday's search and rescue mission to LYOKO postponed his study time by nearly an hour. When Ulrich returned to his room, it was nearly midnight, and he saw that Odd was already asleep. He thought about opening his books to do one more problem, but he could barely keep his eyes open. And so, he trudged over to his bed, set his alarm clock and collapsed in a heap.

* * *

><p>"Look where you're going!" cried Odd. But it was too late as Ulrich collided with another student.<p>

"Oh, sorry I'm terribly! Uh…Alright are you...I mean–" His friends snickered at his inability to form complete sentences.

"Umm…yeah, I'm fine. Are you okay?" Zombie-Ulrich's victim asked nervously as Odd erupted in laughter.

"He will be…after a night's rest. Sorry about that," said Yumi.

She, along with the rest of Team LYOKO was staring transfixed at the person standing in front of them. He had sky-blue hair. Just like various characters from anime and manga productions. And they thought Aelita's pink hair was distinctive enough.

"That's alright. I wasn't looking where I was going either. Didn't realize how…big the school was," the boy replied, trying to sound casual despite noticing that there were now five sets of eyes trained on the top of his head.

**Bryan Green  
>Age: 16<br>Rating: New  
>Fun Facts:<br>He will be one of the main characters of this fanfic!  
>His favourite fruit are Granny Smith – or 'Green' apples.<strong>

"Are you a new student?" Jeremie stated the obvious to the blue-haired boy. He was slightly shorter than Ulrich and wore a red sleeved shirt that had a weird white circular symbol on it.

"Hmm? Oh yeah. My name's Bryan and...I'm a bit lost," he admitted sheepishly, rubbing his head.

_Fit in. Act normal. And being normal at a new place means…being uncertain of where you actually are. _

Yumi played along. "I'm Yumi and I'm pleased to meet you."

"I'm Odd and welcome to Kadic. And here's a joke just for kicks. What do you get when a math teacher and a–"

"Not now. It's too early for lame jokes," said Ulrich with a yawn.

"Nonsense, Ulrich my man. It's not an L-A-M-E joke, it's totally L-M-A-O–"

"…No, Odd. I'm sorry…but no. Not funny."

"Moooving right along. I'm Jeremie," said the boy with spectacles.

"I'm Ulrich and I'm really sorry for running into you... I'm quite…tired."

And last but not least: "My name's Aelita and I like...your shirt," she smiled as she pointed to the white symbol.

Both Bryan and Jeremie stiffened. Jeremie grew tense when Aelita said the word 'like', but relaxed when she turned out to be referring to an inanimate piece of cotton fibre. On the other hand, Bryan looked stunned.

_Right...the mission_. He had nearly forgotten the real reason why he was 6000 kilometres overseas to begin with.

"Aelita?" _Could this be her? She has pink hair after all…How did she get out though?_

"Yep! Good ol' Aelita Stones. Instrumental and technological extraordinaire!"

The girl with pink hair beamed. "Thanks, Odd."

Yumi had sensed Bryan's sudden change in expression, and asked him: "You feeling alright?"

"Oh…no, I'm good. Just…feeling a tad nervous on my first day here, that's all," he replied with a weak smile. _Stones…so it's not her after all._

"Ah, I understand. The new student jitters, it happens to all of us. Say, where did you want to go again?"

"Umm, the principal's office; I have to register and do all that stuff."

"Just keep heading that way," Jeremie pointed, "and then enter the first door you see. Turn right and the administrative office should be the first room."

"Alright, thanks… Jeremie was it?" _Clearly this boy has a built-in GPS system lodged somewhere in his brain._

"Yeah, and no problem."

Bryan then checked his watch. "Anyways, I'd better get going. It was nice meeting you all."

"Same to you. You're welcome to hang out with us anytime," said Aelita cheerfully.

Bryan smiled. "Sure." He waved before following Jeremie's instructions in getting to the principal's office.

"What a swell guy," Odd remarked.

"He did seem shocked when Aelita introduced herself though."

"That's true, Jeremie. Do you think he's a spectre?" Ulrich asked suddenly. XANA had pulled this stunt before…

"I don't think so. I didn't see XANA's Eye anywhere. And…he definitely sounded human."

"I think you're all taking this all too seriously," said Aelita. "He's probably just shy. I'm certain that he's not an agent of XANA."

"I agree with the Princess. By the way, I'm not sure where this is going, but I know how it started, and that's what I want you guys to remember. I'm hungry…can we go eat now?"

"The stomach always comes through for you," Ulrich smirked.

Odd grinned. "The tank is low and it needs some fuel. So let's go!"

* * *

><p><strong>BRYAN<strong>

Principal Delmas's office was small, but well-organized and lavished with lacquered oak tables, several large cabinets and cushioned revolving chairs. To his right was a trophy cabinet filled with numerous distinctions of past alumni. He was preparing for another day in charge of Kadic Academy when:

"Mr. Delmas, the new student is here," said his secretary Nancy Dupont.

"Thanks, Nancy. Let him in please."

**Principal Delmas  
>Age: 55<br>Rating: Boss  
>Fun facts:<br>He enjoys playing computer games during his spare time…and at work.  
>Contrary to popular belief, 'Principal' is not his first name (it's Jean-Pierre).<strong>

Bryan came in, and knocked over an umbrella stand adjacent to the door. He hastily made to upright it.

"Sorry sir, I–"

"It's quite alright Mr. Green. Please, take a seat. Would you like something to drink? Coffee? Juice?"

"Umm…just water would be nice, thanks."

Mrs. Dupont arrived with a cup of tea for the Mr. Delmas and a glass of iced water for Bryan. She took notice of the new student's unique hair colour, before walking out of the room, closing the door behind her. The principal took a sip and began.

"So, Mr. Green. On behalf of Kadic Academy, I'd like to welcome you to this institution."

"Thank you, sir."

Principal Delmas smiled warmly. "I must say, your academic record was for lack of a better word – _outstanding_. And you maintained consistent participation in extra-curricular activities too."

"Well, my dad always said that the most important thing was to have a balanced academic and extra-curricular school life, and not just focus on studying."

"Ah, I see. Yes, I do recall your father, Dr. Green being one of the Academy's finest graduates. How is he doing these days?"

"Umm…he's not around anymore."

There was an awkward moment of silence before Principal Delmas understood what he meant.

"Oh, forgive me. I'm terribly sorry, I didn't know."

"It's alright. It was...a long time ago. I've lived with my grandparents ever since...and I guess I've moved on."

The principal looked deeply sympathetic and patted Bryan on the shoulder. "Let me get your timetable all sorted out." He opened up Bryan's student profile on his desktop.

Now…you're sixteen and you were in grade eleven at your school in Canada, correct?"

"Yes, sir."

"Excellent. This should be it," Mr. Delmas said as he typed a few lines, clicked 'print' and went over to pick up Bryan's timetable from the printer. He handed him the all-important document, along with several other administrative forms to read over, an agenda, and his student ID card.

"Thank you, sir."

"Not a problem. Well, if you have no further questions, I am expecting another new student. You can just leave your luggage here, I'll have someone deliver them to your room. In the meantime, here's a map of the school and feel free to grab a bite to eat at the cafeteria. Classes don't start for another 45 minutes."

"I expect great things from you Mr. Green. However, remember that your social life is equally important."

"Definitely. In fact, I met another group of students this morning. I think...one of them was named Aelita."

"Ah, you've met Ms. Stones then? Then I'd say you're off to a good start, she is another excellent student."

"You've got a telephone call on line one, Mr. Delmas," his secretary called.

"Right then. It was nice meeting you Mr. Green," said the principal, shaking Bryan's hand before he retired to his office to take the phone call.

* * *

><p>Bryan was about to walk out of the office, when he saw another student sitting in the waiting room. She had light brown, short cropped hair, and was intently reading a Jack Reacher novel.<p>

Or so it seemed. Apparently, she had sensed him staring at her. Putting her book down on the coffee table in front of her, she looked up and smiled.

"Hello. New student as well?"

Despite the wintry weather outside, this girl was only wearing a corset shirt and dark blue jeans. Bryan couldn't resist looking down to where she was holding her novel. His mouth was slightly agape; not only was she cute, but she also had a pretty curvy figure...

"Umm...are you feeling alright?" It was the third time he was asked that question.

The boy with blue hair shook his head and snapped out of it. His cheeks were tinged red with embarrassment. "Oh...uh, sorry. I...I didn't mean to. I'm not like that, you know..."

The girl giggled lightly, which made Bryan blush even more furiously. "It's alright. You're not the first, I'll tell you that. What's your name?"

"Name? Bryan. Bryan Green. And you?"

"I'm Catherine Horvath. Nice to meet you," she said as she extended her hand out.

**Catherine Horvath  
>Age: 17<br>Rating: New(er)  
>Fun facts:<br>She is immune to cold weather and losing at Halo 2.  
>One of her goals this year is to go visit the Millau Viaduct in Southern France – the tallest bridge in the world.<strong>

"Is that...really...?" Catherine inquired as she pointed to Bryan's hair.

"Yeah, natural blue."

"I've never seen anyone with blue hair before. It's really cute."

"I bet you've never seen anyone with pink hair before either."

Her eyes widened. "You have?"

"Yeah, I met her this morning."

"You definitely have to show me. Anyways...where are you from?"

"Toronto, Canada. And you?"

"Right below you," she answered.

"The U.S.?" Catherine nodded.

"I applied for an international student exchange program. I've always been in love with France...everything is _magnifique_, you know. And...when I was little, I used to...read the brochures and just imagine being here," she said with a hint of embarrassment.

"Well, part of any exciting trip involves a bit of picturing what it would be like before you even get there."

"Yeah, that's exactly the way I feel. How about you? Why did you come over here?"

_I came here to free a girl from inside an old supercomputer_. Bryan couldn't tell her the real reason and instead, told her the exact same thing he said to his grandparents.

"Same as you, I guess. To gain some international experience. I mean, who would pass up a chance to explore France? There's so much heritage, so much history. At the same time, it's a highly modernized society. There's so much to see and do, in other words."

Catherine laughed. "Wow. That's a...thorough way to put it. Are you planning to be a writer or a journalist?"

"Uh, I'm not really sure what I'd like to be yet."

"Mmm. Me neither. So, Toronto eh? Let me guess...a Leafs fan?"

"You bet. Best team in the NHL."

Catherine laughed. "I hate to say this, but that title belongs to the Flyers. The Leafs won't be making it into the playoffs for...quite a while."

"They most certainly will."

"Will not."

"Will too."

"Will not."

"Totally will."

Catherine stuck out her tongue.

"Aww. That's so immature."

"Is not."

"Not this again. Is too."

"Is not."

"Would you two please keep it down over there?" said Ms. Dupont.

"Sorry," the two replied. They lowered their voices.

"So you're from Philly?"

"Yep, the town of Brotherly Love...and cheese steak sandwiches."

"Ah. I was there once while visiting relatives. Got to watch the Leafs smoke the Flyers," Bryan added.

"And when was that, 1967?" Catherine chuckled.

1967: The last time the Leafs won the Stanley Cup. "Well, they smoked them back then also, but–"

"Ms. Horvath? Principal Delmas is ready to see you," the secretary interrupted.

"Looks like it's my turn," Catherine said as she grabbed all her belongings.

"Would you like to meet up at lunch?"

Catherine smiled. "Sure, that'd be great. After all, we Kadic noob buddies have to stick together!" she said, and held her palm up for a high-five.

Bryan couldn't help but smile back. "Indeed."

* * *

><p>Realizing that he wasn't very hungry, Bryan decided to take a walk around the school. Classes hadn't even started yet, and already he had met and talked with quite a few people.<p>

So much for keeping a low profile.

He was still pondering about that pink-haired girl though. It seemed to be a coincidence. The girl he was searching for was also named Aelita, and they both had a very similar appearance, according to the photographs from his Files.

The only problem was that her surname was neither Schaeffer nor even Hopper. And even if that girl really was Aelita Schaeffer, how on earth did she escape the supercomputer? Surely XANA would have easily prevented that from happening?

"Hey! Shouldn't you be in the cafeteria and not wandering around this early in the morning?" barked a voice behind him. He turned around to find a stocky man wearing a red jacket, blue track pants and a white headband.

**Jim Morales  
>Age: 26<br>Rating: I'd rather not talk about it.  
>Fun facts:<br>His nickname is 'Jimbo' (bodyguard, in Japanese).  
>He plays trombone and is a disco expert.<strong>

"Oh. I'm not particularly hungry at the moment so I thought I'd explore this place a bit."

_He didn't seem to be causing any trouble…_Jim thought. "You're a new student or something?"

"Oh, yeah...I'm Bryan," the boy said as he offered his hand.

"Jim Morales, I'm the physical education teacher and activities coordinator. Well, Bryan welcome to Kadic and remember, classes start in 30 minutes. I'll leave you on your way now."

"Thanks, Jim."

He was approaching Kadic's south wing when he heard what appeared to be mechanical movement coming from the forest – and it sounded as if it was coming towards him.

"Already?" Bryan muttered to himself as two Blocks emerged.

And that wasn't all.

The five students he met a while ago were dashing towards him, surprised to find XANA's monsters attacking an innocent bystander, let alone a new student from Canada.

_So much for keeping a low profile._

He didn't have time to elaborate on this as the Blocks started firing at him, ignoring the approaching members of Team LYOKO. Bryan rolled to his right, avoiding the first barrage of red lasers before opening his school bag and pulling out – a tennis racket.

Bryan leapt towards the first block and plunged the base of his racket into its Eye, causing the racket to break as the Block exploded. However, a shot from the other Block grazed his right kneecap and he fell down on one knee.

"Ow." He was quick to recover though. Sensing the Block approach him, under the impression that he was incapacitated, he whirled around and jammed his broken racket into the monster, which burst into pieces of scrap metal.

Ulrich and Yumi helped Bryan up. He heard Jeremie say something about a 'XANA attack' and 'factory' as he, Aelita and Odd headed off into the forest.

"You okay?" asked a concerned Yumi.

The boy tried to laugh it off as he examined his damaged racket and a hole in his pants. "Yeah, thanks. Er…this may seem hard to believe but–"

"What? How you just single-handedly fought off two Blocks?"

Bryan froze. _They know about this stuff? Then – _

His face turned serious. "Listen, there's not much time. You guys know where Franz Sch- I mean, Franz Hopper's supercomputer is, right?"

Ulrich glanced at Yumi and they both were wondering the same thing: _who is he?_

"Yeah…but–"

Bryan sighed. He knew that there would be a lot of explaining to do; and he had some questions of his own as well.

"You have to trust me. I'll explain everything after. But I have to get to the supercomputer."

Ulrich looked uncomfortable. What if it turned into another William fiasco? The last thing Team LYOKO needed was for XANA to gain another human puppet.

Yumi's cell phone rang. "Hello? Jeremie…yeah, we're on our way."

"What is it?"

"XANA's attacking from the Mountain sector. Odd and Aelita are already virtualized." She thought for a second and glanced back at Bryan. "You seem to know a bit about all this. And we're running out of options," she said flatly.

Ulrich pulled Yumi away and whispered into her ear.

"Yumi–"

"We don't have much of a choice. XANA attacked him for a reason, so I doubt he's on its side. And like I said, he already knows a bit about what we're dealing with. Did you see how he just took apart XANA's monsters?"

"Fine." Ulrich turned to face Bryan. "Can you walk on your own? I mean, I–"

"Yeah. It's fine."

"Hey, what's going on?" Jim suddenly appeared from around the corner.

"Crap. Ulrich, take Bryan with you."

"What?"

"Hey Jim…do you need some help setting up the gymnastics equipment today?"

"Uh, sure thing Ishiyama. Stern, I guess you can show Green around Kadic then. Don't be late for class though."

As Ulrich and Bryan headed towards the abandoned factory via the sewers, a lot of questions began buzzing in their minds.

For Ulrich, he was utterly bewildered by how someone from as far a place as Canada knew about LYOKO. More importantly, was he really working for XANA? The French Government? Or could he be the key in defeating the virus? But even Franz Hopper himself had never mentioned anything about some blue-haired Canadian kid in the files Jeremie had obtained from the databases of Sector V.

On the other hand, Bryan couldn't believe that a bunch of _students_ were caught up in all of this. How did these five find out about a top secret NATO operation? He was under the assumption that Project CARTHAGE remained classified after its dissolution. Being the son of one the engineers who worked on it, he thought that he was one of the very few who knew of the supercomputer's existence.

Of course, there were other matters to attend to; but for the time being, finding Aelita Schaeffer was the pivotal objective.

And within a few minutes…that objective would be achieved.

* * *

><p><strong>Fragmented Legacy Fun Fact 005:<strong>

Jim Morales is and has been a very busy man. In addition to holding multiple posts at Kadic, he has also held many occupations throughout his adulthood – a number that probably exceeds his age. Of course, he'll never want to talk about it though. Perhaps one day, he might even be able to add "LYOKO warrior" to his long list of careers…

* * *

><p><strong>A|N's:<strong>

So, two new faces from two different countries set foot at Kadic! I'll try to keep introducing new characters to a minimum as this story progresses, in order to preserve the "LYOKO-ness" of the story and focus more on the lives of the original LYOKO five. However, these two – Bryan and Catherine – (especially the former) are definitely set to play a major role in everything that happens later on.

Feel free to leave a comment, and as always, thanks for reading Code LYOKO: Fragmented Legacies =)


	6. The new students – part II

**6: The new students – part II**

* * *

><p>Bryan Green raised his eyebrows.<p>

"Seriously?"

If anybody ever asked you to go down into a smelly sewer, and you weren't a maintenance worker, you would have thought that they were out of their minds as well.

"Well, this is the shortest route. Pretty nice, huh?" said Ulrich.

The two descended into the underworld that was the wastewater management network, en route to meet up with Aelita, Jeremie and Odd at the factory. Unfortunately, Yumi was unable to join the party, since she was making sure that Jim Morales - also known as the First Star Commander of Morning Patrol - did not realize that there were currently five students outside school grounds.

"How far is it from here?" the new student asked, breathing through only his mouth.

"It's pretty close. But having these makes the trip a lot shorter," Ulrich replied as he pointed to the two skateboards beside them.

"Ah. Well…uh, to be honest, I'm not that much of…I can't use a skateboard."

"Oh, umm sure. We'll just–"

"But I can skate," Bryan said as he took out a pair of inline skates from his bag.

"Oh. Nice." _How much stuff can he fit in that thing?_

Bryan was surprisingly agile in his roller skates, as Ulrich somewhat struggled to keep up. Fortunately, he slowed down, remembering that he didn't know which way to go.

"So…how do you know about all this?"

"I was going to ask you the same thing."

"Ladies first?" said Ulrich instinctively.

"Sure, go ahead Ulrich."

"Ha ha. No seriously. Oh, make a left here."

They rounded a corner. In Bryan's opinion, the sewers were surprisingly in good condition and well-illuminated. It didn't even smell that bad. He always thought that they were dark, damp, overrun with rodents and smelled strongly of fecal matter. Then again, maybe _Sin City_ wasn't the most accurate depiction of reality.

"By the way, that pink-haired girl who was with you guys, her family name…it isn't Stones is it?"

"Aelita? Oh, no. It's actually Hopper–"

_I knew it. _

"–Jeremie wanted to keep her identity a secret. We also made up some other stuff like she's a Canadian transfer student and is Odd's distant cousin."

_Good, they came up with an alibi for her. _Bryan chuckled. "She's Odd's cousin?"

"It was all Odd's idea. Some even think that those two make a cute couple together. It's weird."

"…Indeed."

Oh, we're here," said Ulrich as he parked his skateboard beside another board and two scooters.

_Boy do I feel dumb_, thought Bryan as he climbed back up to the surface. Fooled by a last name. Pink hair, similar appearance, he should have made the connection when they first met earlier that morning. Nevertheless, that still left out one important detail: _how did she get out of the supercomputer?_ Bryan had a feeling Jeremie was behind all of it; he seemed to be the leader of the group. That and his glasses made him look like a stereotypical adept computer programmer…

Ulrich helped him up, as he caught his first glimpse of the abandoned industrial complex. It was situated on a man-made island, connected to the mainland by a single bridge. The building was quite long, with curved ends that made it look like an ocean liner, and was three stories tall. In addition, most of the windows were fogged up with dust.

They entered through the front garage doors and swung down to the main floor using the overhead cables. Ulrich led them into an elevator. Bryan nodded to himself. Obviously for security purposes – Project CARTHAGE was one of the most classified NATO projects – all operations were performed underground. Above it just was an ordinary industrial shipping unit.

But several floors below…

* * *

><p>"Hey Jeremie," said Ulrich as he emerged from the elevator.<p>

"About time!" the boy in front of the computer exclaimed. He turned around and was surprised that Ulrich had brought a visitor.

"Why did you–"

"He already knows about LYOKO. Yumi said that he could help us fight XANA."

_What? I knew that there was something odd about him_… thought Jeremie.

"Where is Yumi anyways?" asked Odd, who had been devirtualized shortly before Ulrich and Bryan's arrival.

"Jim."

"Oh. Hey, Jackie Chan! Fancy bit of fighting back there!"

"Thanks…Odd – right?"

"Jeremie, is something wrong?" asked Aelita, who was all by her lonesome on LYOKO.

She and Odd had tried to get to the activated Tower, which was situated above a cliff and was guarded by Tarantulas. Furthermore, there was also no path that led to the top of the ridge.

The two tried to get to the top with their vehicles. Sadly, they hadn't paid much attention when they saw _Star Wars Episode III_, where they would have learned that having the high ground was very advantageous; and were promptly shot down by a barrage of laser fire.

"No, it's alright, Ulrich's on his way," he replied.

"Alright, but hurry. I can't hold this on for much longer," Aelita said inside the rock shield she made using LYOKO's terra firma. XANA's monsters were pounding away at it relentlessly; and slowly but surely, the physical barrier began to show signs of stress.

Jeremie virtualized Ulrich and then began uploading Ulrich's OverBike. He turned away from the monitor to find Bryan looking speechless.

"Wait, Ulrich is able to get onto LYOKO?" _I thought it was only us three._

"Yes. As a matter fact, we all can – I mean, Yumi, Odd and I as well," Jeremie replied.

"Except Jeremie's scared silly of scanners, and his LYOKO form is a–"

"Shut up, Odd."

"Fine. Anyways…Bryan, how did you come across our wonderful mortal enemy XANA?"

"Well, it's a long story–"

Ulrich's voice then came from LYOKO. "Jeremie! I've got six...not wait, nine Hornets on my tail. How much further until I – argh!" The OverBike was hit by XANA's flying beasts, leaving the boy stranded. He took out both of his katanas and braced for the elite Hornet Squadron.

Meanwhile, Aelita's defence crumbled. She got up and threw one of her energy beams, which managed to incapacitate a Tarantula as the other monsters ceased fire. Aelita was puzzled, before seeing Mr. Tentacles gliding towards her. She gasped and tossed another pink sphere of energy, which bounced right off the Scyphozoa's bulbous head as it advanced ever closer.

"Jeremie, I need you to get me into LYOKO," Bryan said urgently.

The young computer whiz was unsure of what to do. Aelita was trapped and Ulrich had his hands full. Odd was out and Yumi was occupied. There were three options. Hope everything would work out and do nothing. Bravely virtualize himself onto LYOKO. Or…trust someone he just met to save the day?

But…_ What if he really is an agent of XANA? Or ends up becoming like William – falling under XANA's control? Aelita would be in serious danger. _

"I don't know…" he started as Ulrich hobbled next to Odd, having been quickly defeated as well.

"Too…many…Hornets."

"You have to trust me."

_Didn't other fictional protagonists 'trust' and then wounded up on the wrong side of an AK-47?_

"I'll explain everything after, I promise. But right now, we have to stop XANA. You do realize what happens if XANA takes away all of Aelita's memories, right?"

"What?" Up to now, Team LYOKO had always stopped the Scyphozoa from doing just that. Jeremie never envisioned the consequences should XANA actually succeed in this respect. However from the way Bryan implied it, there was evidently something more at stake.

Odd chipped in his two cents. "Einstein, I hate to break it to you, but we don't have much of a choice."

Ulrich nodded. "We're all out of options. I…I trust Bryan as well. By the time we could contact Yumi, it may be too late."

"Fine. Bryan, take the elevator down one floor to the scanner room."

The enigmatic teenager nodded and departed. Moments later, a pop-up appeared on the computer screen. Jeremie clicked it, and it instantly displayed a new avatar – Bryan's avatar. Yet it appeared all fuzzy, as if even the supercomputer itself hadn't decided on what form the boy would take.

"Alright…transfer, Bryan…Scanner, Bryan…Virtualization," said Jeremie as he pressed the enter key.

* * *

><p>When Bryan emerged in the Mountain sector, Jeremie was astounded by three things.<p>

Unlike the others when they entered LYOKO for the first time, Bryan didn't fall on his buttocks. Instead, he slowly descended to the surface as if some invisible force was slowing his fall.

Then there was his outfit.

"He's a–"

"…a Star Wars." Odd finished Jeremie's sentence.

"Umm, no. Not a Star Wars."

"Uh…Star Trek?"

Jeremie sighed. "Go watch the movie sometime, Odd. He's…a _Jedi_."

Indeed, Bryan's outfit clearly resembled that of the famed protectors of a galaxy far, far away. He donned a light brown cloak covering a sand-coloured tunic and brown boots.

But the last shock came as Bryan turned to survey his surroundings.

There was something different about his eyes. They were pale violet; and they no longer had dark brown pupils, but a ripple-like pattern of black rings.

The Mountain sector consisted of tall peaks, narrow paths and was literally floating over a vast blue-violet sky.

There was also a small pond next to Bryan. As he stared back at his reflection, the boy smiled. _Jedi_…_really dad?_ He then noticed the distinct ripple pattern of his eyes. _So this is what it's like to have the _Rinnegan_. I think I'm going to enjoy this– _

"Bryan, I don't mean to be rude, but can you get a move on? Aelita's already lost forty-five percent of her memories!"

"Oh…right, my bad." He brought his palms together, and Ulrich's OverBike materialized out of thin air. It looked exactly the same, save for several black rods which protruded from the vehicle.

Back in the control room, the three boys were surprised that Bryan had access to a previously digitized vehicle.

"Are you seeing what I'm seeing?"

"Yeah, he just took Ulrich's OverBike," confirmed Odd.

"That's fine. He better not get a scratch on it, though."

"Well, he already stuck some black sticks into it." Clearly, Ulrich was quite fond of his LYOKO vehicle.

"He WHAT?"

"Bryan, do you see any monsters around you?" Jeremie said into his earpiece.

"Umm, no. Wait, I see a couple of Hornets closing in on me."

"What's the matter, Jeremie?" asked Ulrich, noticing that his friend had a slight frown.

"He's just lost a couple of life points...but there weren't any monsters around him." Sure enough, Bryan's health meter had dropped to ninety.

"I'm sure it's just a glitch for first-timers," suggested Odd.

"Maybe…"

The two remaining buggers that Ulrich failed to eliminate broke off their formation and locked onto their target. Bryan smirked as he reached for his laser-deflecting Lightsaber; a must-have tool for any Jedi or Jedi-wannabe, located conveniently by their side.

Except that he didn't have one by his side.

Had he been Obi-Wan Kenobi's apprentice, he might've just earned himself a half-hour lecture of disapproval by his master.

_Crap, guess I only look a Jedi…but if that's the case…_

The Hornets stuck out their stingers and fired red lasers. Bryan formed some sort of symbol with his hands, and a bulky man materialized over him. He had the same ripple-pattern eyes. However, he also wore a black cloak with red clouds, sported orange hair and – most interestingly – had black piercings all over his face. The lasers struck the body and dissipated.

With the path open, Bryan smirked as he zoomed past the beleaguered bugs.

_Something's definitely wrong._ Jeremie glanced at Bryan's health meter. It was down to 75 and yet – he didn't appear to have gotten hit; the blasts were all absorbed by that stocky figure…

"Bryan, what's going on? Your life points are being depleted, but you weren't hit by XANA's monsters."

"…Oh, really? It's not that big of a problem. How far away is Aelita?"

* * *

><p>The Scyphozoa had retrieved nearly seventy percent of Aelita's memories, when the roaring engine of a motorbike could be heard approaching from the distance. Its occupant leapt out of the moving vehicle wielding one of Ulrich's kantanas and sliced through the monster's tentacles. He extended his arms to catch Aelita before she hit the rocky surface as XANA's maimed reconnaissance agent retreated.<p>

"Good job," said Jeremie's voice over LYOKO. "Aelita's memories are intact."

The pink-cladded LYOKO warrior slowly stirred.

"You okay?"

The first thing Aelita noticed was Bryan's eyes. Although she didn't freak out like Sissi would have, she was most certainly mesmerized by the purple iris and the ripple-like pattern. First his hair. Now his eyes. Next thing you know, his tongue is probably green.

She also noticed a Hornet right behind him and, pushing Bryan to the side, conjured an energy beam and hurled it at XANA's monster, destroying it.

"Nice shot," Bryan commented without looking back.

"Thanks. Umm…your eyes?"

Suddenly, Bryan was shot in the back by another flying pest.

"Dammit!" he cursed, twisting around. A pink energy sphere materialized in his hand as he waited for the Hornet to come into range, before making short work of the monster with perfect accuracy.

"How did you do that?" Aelita gasped. _Wasn't that her energy beam_?

"Magic. Aelita Schaeffer." Bryan smiled at Aelita's confused look when he called her by her real surname.

"Alright, let's get to the Tower."

"It's up there," Aelita pointed. Meanwhile, the Tarantulas perched on top of the cliff had moved closer to the edge and had the two in sight. However, before their lasers could make impact, Bryan grabbed Aelita's hand.

"No!" Ulrich exclaimed. But the avatar profiles on Bryan and Aelita remained active. Even though both of them were seemingly hit, only Bryan lost life points. Where the two had been, a wooden stump had taken its place. The two re-emerged directly underneath the cliff, out of the range of enemy fire.

"That was close."

_Another one of Bryan's techniques – teleportation?_ Jeremie wondered. In addition, from what he had observed, Bryan seemed to be able to use any technique of the other LYOKO warriors. Ulrich's OverBike, Aelita's energy beams… Apparently he also had some of his own abilities as well.

Bryan closed his eyes, and the world instantly turned into a black and white visual grid. He could see the entire sector, including the location of the activated Tower. And there were five Tarantulas surrounding it.

"Right." Three more bodies appeared from thin air. There was the bulky man from before, a young girl with her hair tied in a bun, and a teenager with his hair spiked up in all directions. They all had the same orange-coloured hair, multiple piercings over their faces and black cloaks.

"Bryan what on _earth_–"

"The Six Paths of Pain," Bryan replied proudly. "Well…three of them anyways…should be enough though."

"Paths…of Pain?"

"Hold on," Bryan instructed as the bulky man placed his hands over her shoulders.

"Wait…what's going on?"

"Jeremie. How many life points am I at?"

"You only have thirty remaining."

"Thanks." He looked at Aelita. "Everything will work out. I think. Just be ready to head straight for the activated Tower."

Bryan sat down and closed his eyes once more. The spiky-haired figure laid down his hands, allowing the female body to step on. He then flung her upwards with incredible strength; she was soon over the peak.

She made the same symbol Bryan did when he materialized Ulrich's OverBike. Instantly, the other two bodies and Aelita emerged alongside it.

The five Tarantulas concentrated their lasers towards the four airborne individuals, but they were absorbed by the bulky man. Next, the spiky-haired figure held his palms out and directed them at XANA's monsters. As if struck by an invisible force, all the Tarantulas were flung off the mountaintop, plunging to inevitable deletion.

When all was said and done, Bryan was devirtualized as the other three bodies vanished. Aelita was surprised, but only for a moment, as she activated her wings and flew towards the Tower.

"Jeremie. Bryan…is he–"

"It's okay Aelita. He's in the scanner room."

"Alright."

It was most definitely not all right. No XANA attack could be considered complete without–

The mother of all cockshaws, William Dunbar appeared in front of the Tower. He leapt up and hurled a ball of black energy at Aelita, who screamed as her wings disappeared and she hurtled towards the ground, several feet from the Tower.

Meanwhile back in the factory, Bryan just emerged from a scanner, looking exhausted. He didn't have time to catch his breath however. XANA's small Kankralats were starting to materialize from the other scanners, pinning him down.

_Ah crap. _He looked around for a weapon and picked up a metal rod.

"Looks like Bryan's in trouble, Jeremie pointed out as monsters began to pour out of the scanners.

"We're on it," said Ulrich as he and Odd left for the basement.

Willi-XANA brandished his sword and ran towards Aelita, preparing for the final strike. The pink-haired girl looked up to William's smirking face. Although usually cheerful and friendly, she felt an inner rage pent up from inside of her, with the '_Eye of the Tiger_' song playing in the background.

* * *

><p>She may have let XANA get the best of her yesterday; by impersonating as her father.<p>

But not today.

When Captain Cockshaw was within range, she rolled to her side, dodging the swing of his mighty sword. She righted herself and thrust out her palm at the possessed boy.

No ball of energy came out.

But _something_ happened, as William appeared struggling to hold his ground against an invisible force, which proved to be too much for him to handle, as he fell off the cliff with a howl of rage and anger-like fury. A quick and easy victory over Smug McGee.

"Aelita, how did you do _that_?" Jeremie asked. It appeared to be the exact same repulsion technique that Bryan had used on the Tarantulas.

"I'm…not sure. We'll deal with that later," Aelita dded as she headed off with no more obstacles blocking her path.

Back at the factory, Bryan, Ulrich and Odd were outnumbered. They all had some smouldering holes in his shirt from the laser fire. On Earth, it seemed that the strength of XANA's monsters was reduced; their weapons didn't actually hurt _that_ much. But eventually, it would prove overwhelming.

"LET'S SWAT SOME BUGS!" came Odd's horribly lame battle cry, as he lunged towards another Kankrelat. Ulrich facepalmed, but swung his rod to destroy another mechanized crawler.

Aelita reached the top platform and hurriedly placed her palm over the scanner.

"I am rubber, you are glue!" yelled Odd as he crushed another one of XANA's monsters into scrap metal. A shot hit his wrist, and he dropped his metal rod.

NAME…AELITA_

"Umm, is Odd always this…Odd?" asked Bryan as he crouched to dodge more flak.

CODE…LYOKO_

"Yeah. You'll get used to it," the other boy replied as XANA's monsters started to fade into nothingness. Odd started a victory cheer, but Ulrich was too tired to tell him off. _Where does he get the energy_, he wondered.

"Tower deactivated," said Aelita dutifully.

Jeremie set down his headpiece. This may not have been the most dangerous XANA attack in his books, but was certainly interesting nevertheless. One thing was for sure though: it seemed that they had finally found the real sixth LYOKO warrior.

* * *

><p>Bryan regrouped with the group after replacing his holed-up shirt with a new one that read '4 out of 3 people have problems with fractions'.<p>

"I don't get it," said Odd with a puzzled expression.

"Looks like you're going to flunk today's test then," Ulrich smirked. The others chuckled.

"By the way, thanks for your help, Bryan."

"No problem Jeremie."

"So…Bryan, how do you know about LYOKO?" asked Aelita, intrigued by how someone overseas would know about a top-secret supercomputer in France. And the things she saw today in the digital world: Bryan's eyes, the orange-haired bodies only added to her list of curiosity. Maybe he also knew more about her past and her family…

Bryan remained silent. This was really becoming a frequently asked question. There was so much stuff to explain, yet at the same time, he was also seeking some answers himself.

"How about we meet after school? So Yumi can hear about this as well. If you're all free, that is."

"Works for me."

"Same here."

"I'm in. This will be like the last minutes of every Scooby-Doo episode. _Where all is revealed_."

"…Riiiight. I'll let Yumi know," added Ulrich.

"Oh, by the way…did you find out which class you're in?"

* * *

><p>"And I'd like to introduce our new student, Bryan Green," Ms. Lebreton announced as the class clapped politely, some whispering to each other about his blue hair.<p>

"Mr. Green, you can take that seat beside Ms. Stones."

"Thanks."

"But Ms. Lebreton, doesn't Bryan get to say something? Speech! Speech!" said Odd. Clearly, he was hopeful that Bryan could deliver an hour-long welcoming oration so that there would be no time for the test. In fact, a couple of students joined in with the chant.

"That's enough, Mr. Della Robia. Do you have anything else to say, Mr. Green?"

"Umm…not really. It's…uh – great to be here?"

"Good. Now, for the rest of you, get out your writing apparatus for today's test," the teacher said to the groaning of some students.

"Mr. Green, just do what you know. I won't count it for marks," Ms. Lebreton said while handing out the 8½ x 11 inch sheets of paper that was the phobia of every student. Bryan smiled at Aelita, who smiled back as he took his seat.

On the other end, Jeremie watched on with the slightest hint of jealousy. To him, it looked like Bryan and Aelita were long-lost friends reuniting with one another. Both of their lives were inexplicably tied to the LYOKO world.

Furthermore, Jeremie had to admit that he was the hero of the day. Save for William, he ripped apart XANA's army and saved Aelita; something neither Odd nor Ulrich could do. And it was his first time to LYOKO as well.

He saw Bryan whispering something into her ear, to which Aelita cupped her hands over her mouth trying to suppress her laughter, and gave him a playful punch to the shoulder.

"You may begin," said Ms. Lebretond as students flipped over their papers.

Bryan skimmed over the test entire paper. It honestly didn't look that difficult. A lot of application problems regarding polynomial equations; factoring, solving and curve sketching. With Ms. Lebreton at the back, he took a glance around.

Most of the class was already scribbling away. He glanced to his side. Aelita Schaeffer seemed remarkably calm and had a faint smile on her face as she started writing down her answers.

_In light of everything that she has been through – though she may not remember all of it – and considering what lies ahead…_seeing Aelita relaxed and enjoying life somehow made Bryan feel a bit more comfortable on the inside. Fifteen years later, she was finally free from the supercomputer; free from XANA's grasp. And yet, this freedom was not the same thing as liberty.

_But enough of that now_.

After all, there were only 55 minutes remaining, and he didn't want to look like a complete fool on his first day by doing nothing but daydream. Thus, Bryan started to answer Math Test 2 Question 1:

_Factor: x^3 + 6x – 7 _

_Easy stuff._

* * *

><p><strong>Fragmented Legacy Fun Fact 006:<strong>

This story is divided into 'seasons', kind of like your favourite television program. Each season is 12 chapters long.

* * *

><p><strong>A|N's:<strong>

And so concludes the first half of Code LYOKO: Fragmented Legacies Season 1! I'll be taking a short break this week to enjoy the other fine aspects of life (midterms, Thanksgiving, the start of the NHL season, more midterms). Also, I'd like to thank everyone who has read this story, and those who have provided feedback this past month. I never expected this much support and as a n00b fanfic writer, I really appreciate it =D

Feel free to leave a comment, and as always, thanks for reading Code LYOKO: Fragmented Legacies =) Every six chapters, I'll also post replies to some reviews, and answer any questions you readers might have.

* * *

><p><strong>Replies to Reviews:<strong>

[_**F8less**_]  
>You're my first Review! <strong>Gold Star <strong>for you =D. I'm glad you like the character profiling (I got the idea from the Scott Pilgrim graphic novels). All major characters will have something like this when they're introduced into this story. Even Odd's dog, Kiwi – although I'm not entirely sure how old he is in dog years. One of the most important things to me when I was developing this story was getting the character's character right. I didn't want much OOCness since this story essentially picks up and goes beyond where the show left off at the end of Season 4. Hopefully, I can keep this up =)

[_**flyboy961**_]  
>Thanks for your input! You're absolutely right. Bryan is too good to be true; athletic, intelligent, and a LYOKO beast. Though I'd like to point out that he's terribad at programming (he didn't regain control of the plane in Chapter 2, it was because Team LYOKO deactivated the Tower; the two scenes occurred simultaneously). Since this story starts between Seasons 3 and 4, I didn't want Bryan know nothing about LYOKO, and have the others explain everything to him (it'd be repetitive for those who watched the TV show). I realize that Bryan seems perfect, but that may be because I haven't gone into much detail about his character or backstory. And he definitely has his weaknesses, which are much, mcuh worse compared to the flaws of the other LYOKO warriors.<p>

[_**Starke**_]  
>I'm glad you're enjoying this story so far! I'll most certainly check out your story soon =). You are right on the ball when you say that things are slowly evolving over time. One of the things I tried to avoid doing was introducing new things all at once. This includes the romancefluff stuff (which I'm not so good at). I mean, even in real life, these things take time (and getting Ulrich and Yumi together in the TV show took forever). I also didn't want to bring in all of the 'bad guys' at once (Team LYOKO would've died of exhaustion from having to fight XANA, the 'Men In Black', homework and gingivitis). While I pretty much have the entire storyline planned out in the long run, it's all about filling in the small pockets, which is quite fun - this chapter is essentially one of them. In fact, I am considering something ultracool following this Halloween arc, although it will be much, much darker than anything I've done so far. Once again, thanks for your support! I really appreciate it =D.


	7. Return to the past

**7: Return to the past**

* * *

><p>Ever notice that the more you wish for school to be over, the longer it takes for the bell to ring?<p>

Some would say that it was because Kronos, the almighty lord of time, had gone off for an executive lunch. Or perhaps he was depressed from time to time after losing a war to his children eons ago; being beaten by the things you've ingested was kind of humiliating.

Of course, the five LYOKO warriors could care less about Greek mythology. They were just waiting for their classes to end so that they could hear what their new blue-haired ally knew about LYOKO and the supercomputer. After all, Bryan Green did start his academic tenure at Kadic by thwarting XANA's latest attack in style.

_That_ was an understatement. First, he took apart two Blocks by himself, destroying his tennis racket in the process. Then, he rescued Aelita from the Scyphozoa before he near single-handedly took out all of XANA's monsters, save for William.

His powers were unlike anything the group had ever seen. In addition to being able to call forth multiple 'bodies' that could absorb laser blasts or manipulate attraction and repulsion forces, Bryan could also use the abilities of the others, including Aelita's energy field. Clearly, he had a lot of explaining to do.

So when the clock struck four, Aelita, Odd, Jeremie and Ulrich met up with Yumi and they headed for the abandoned factory. Bryan had told them that he'd meet them there, since he had to finish some administrative procedures and unpack his belongings. Therefore, the proactive LYOKO warriors decided to tackle their new math assignments to pass the time.

As usual, Jeremie had already completed all of his homework and was browsing the internet. Half an hour later, he took his eyes off of a Wikipedia article.

"So, what do you think?"

"The answer's 47."

"Not the math homework, Odd. I'm talking about You-Know-Who."

"Looks like Jeremie's a Harry Potter fanboy," Ulrich smirked. Yumi sniggered.

"What?" the boy said, eyebrows raised.

"While we're on the subject, did you hear that the last book is coming out next year?"

"Yeah. Apparently two main characters are supposed to die," said Aelita. Apart from Kingdom Hearts, she was also an avid fan of J.K. Rowling's magical world ever since the others took her to see _The Goblet of Fire_ last November. And for the next two months, if you were to stalk Aelita Stones – which would be very creepy – you would find her eyes always poring over one of the six novels.

"Personally I don't care who dies, so long as Dobby lives through it all," said Odd. Despite the former house elf's lack of screen time and exclusion from the fourth movie, Dobby was his favourite character. Carefree, comedic and loves socks. What's not to like?

Not wanting to dive into another great Potter debate, Jeremie cleared his throat and attempted to steer the conversation back into his subject. "Seriously. What do you make of our new classmate?"

"Catherine?" asked Yumi.

"Who?"

"Oh, right…Bryan. Our class also got a new student today, Catherine."

"Is she hot?"

Aelita and Yumi glared daggers at Odd, while Jeremie and Ulrich just shook their heads as if they were both thinking along the lines of: _you're truly an idiot_.

"Anyways, Bryan Green…there's no info on him anywhere."

"Dude, that kind of sounds like stalking. That's kind of bad and creepy. You're also stalking guys…hmm, Einstein, are you sure you're not–"

"Shut up Odd," his friends exclaimed in unison.

"The supercomputer has nothing on him. Nothing on his background, not even his date of birth…" Jeremie continued.

"April 7, 1990. Do I get sixteen years' worth of presents then?" came Bryan's voice as he stepped out of the elevator.

* * *

><p>"Hey you, everything went smoothly?"<p>

"Yeah, thanks Aelita. Sorry I took so long."

"Some fancy bit of fighting today," said Yumi with a smile.

Bryan laughed, rubbing the back of his head as though his first trip into LYOKO wasn't anything worth noting. He sat down beside Aelita and Ulrich. "Alright. Who goes first?"

"How about we settle it with this," Odd took out a silver coin.

"Uh, okay. Heads for me." He tossed the coin. Tails.

"Best two out of three?"

"Don't be silly. So, what would you like to know?" Jeremie asked Bryan.

"Okay. For starters, tell me how you guys found the supercomputer and helped Aelita escape LYOKO?"

The group took turns in recapping everything that had happened in the past year. From their first encounter with XANA, to Code EARTH and the 'discovery' of CARTHAGE – the fifth sector. They also recounted more humorous events, such as the time Ulrich overshot the underground pathway on his skateboard and ended up in the drenched in sewage water.

"Wow."

That was all Bryan could say when they had finished. Yet, that three-lettered word pretty much summarized Team LYOKO's inaugural first year.

"I know, I'm amazing."

"Of course you are, Odd – Italy's Boy Wonder," remarked Ulrich sarcastically, to which Odd took several deep bows.

"So no one else ever found out about this place?"

Yumi shook her head. "It's our secret," she said, to which Bryan appeared satisfied.

"I always thought I just had enter some passcode like 'open sesame' to free Aelita, then turn off the supercomputer and that was that. But, to come up with an entire complex program…damn, you must be a genius Jeremie."

Odd grinned. "Einstein's the man to go for all your technological needs."

"It was nothing really…" Jeremie said bashfully, before adopting a serious tone. "Anywyas, how did you learn about all this?"

Bryan scratched his blue hair. "It's a long story–"

"Excellent, storytime!"

He noted that Odd seemed to be the flamboyant optimistic member of the group. Which was good, considering what they've been through, they needed someone to brighten their day.

"Basically, my father worked on the supercomputer with Dr. Hopper."

* * *

><p>The bombshell was dropped as the LYOKO warriors gasped.<p>

"On my 16th birthday, I got access to this large file from a safety deposit box of my father's. It had his will, among other things, in addition to a set of instructions for me. A task for me to complete, in the event that he passed away…"

Bryan stared down at the ground. Aelita understood what he had gone through, having lost all connections with her own parents, if they were even alive still. She looked sympathetic. "I'm sorry to hear that. What about your mother?"

He shook his head. "I was told that they were both returning from a New Year's Eve party and collided with a driver on the wrong side of the road. My dad was instantly killed. My mom died shortly later in hospital from her injuries."

"That bastard," Ulrich muttered under his breath. He had also lost relatives, loved ones due to reckless driving.

"Since then, I've been living with my grandparents. It took a while for me to believe everything's that happened. But my dad's stuff in his safety deposit box told me all about Project CARTHAGE."

"Franz Hopper's top-secret project for the French government, right?"

"Sort of. You know of it?"

"Not really," Jeremie admitted. "We had previously retrieved some files from sector five pertaining to the operation."

"Okay. Well, in short the supercomputer was part of a counter-Soviet operation during the Cold War in the 1970's."

"Ah Cold War…Red Alert 2, Allies versus Soviets."

"Odd, it's a real event too," said Ulrich. He was knowledgeable of the conflict that had split his home country and family in two; his mother's side of the family had been living in Berlin at the time. They had endured the hardships of nearly two decades of Communist rule.

Yumi scooted closer to Ulrich and gently placed her arm over his shoulder. "You alright?"

"Sorry. I didn't mean to turn this into a dark history lesson," said Bryan.

Ulrich shook his head. "No, it's fine. Go on." He noticed that Yumi still had her arm rested on him and felt his cheeks turn red. He had to admit, it was comforting.

"The Cold War was a staring contest between the Allies – specifically NATO, the military alliance of western democratic nations – and the Soviet Union and its satellite states. Both sides tried to outdo the other; who could be the 'best'. Technology was one of the key conflicts."

Team LYOKO always thought that the supercomputer was only a product of the French secret service. But now, it seemed like a global dilemma.

"Didn't each side try to outdo the other by building nuclear weapons?"

"It's more than the nuclear arms build-up, Yumi. For instance, there was the Space Race," Jeremie added.

"And another thing was computer technology. Machines that could do work much faster than humans. Both sides were finding ways to exploit this, transform computers into a form of weaponry."

"And I guess that's where Project CARTHAGE comes in."

Bryan nodded. "The idea of constructing a supercomputer involved several NATO countries: the USA, Britain, France and Canada, under the codename of Project CARTHAGE."

"The decisive battle between the Romans and Carthaginians in the Third Punic War," said Aelita as-a-matter-of-factly. She had researched the topic with Jeremie upon learning that 'Scipio' – the name of the famous general that led Rome to victory in the Second Punic War – was the passcode into the fifth sector.

"You got it, Aelita." The girl beamed before Bryan continued.

"Similar to how the Battle of Carthage resulted in a decisive Roman victory and destruction of the Carthaginian Empire, the Allies believed that this project was crucial to eliminating the Soviet threat. The main goal was to develop a system that could intercept and disable potential Soviet attacks."

"Well, that does make sense," Jeremie agreed. "I mean, disrupting one's communications and knowing their strategies beforehand would be highly advantageous."

"What about XANA?"

"XANA was the program intended to achieve the objectives of Project CARTHAGE. Essentially, it's the world's first computer virus."

"Really? Because lately, it seems like it's bent towards destroying everything," Jeremie mumbled.

"Hmm, I've noticed. Maybe XANA evolved while it was inactive, believing that all of humanity was a threat."

From an anti-Soviet agent to total annihilation? Seemed like a _major _evolution.

"So how did my father get involved?"

"I believe he was a computer engineer in the public sector before getting the call-up from NATO to spearhead this project. He had two engineering grads working directly under him. One was from the USA, and the other was my father."

"Who was the American?"

"I think…it was a physicist by the name of Dr. Peterson. There was also a whole team of off-campus staff. But it was those three who dealt with the supercomputer. And it wasn't long before something unexpected happened."

"LYOKO…" Aelita said softly. Bryan nodded.

"I'm not sure how they did it, but they created an entire virtual world. Like Tron, but more colourful and vibrant. You mentioned that it even had time travelling capabilities?"

Jeremie nodded. "'Return to the past', it's how we restored everything back to normal after XANA attacks in the real world."

"I see. Not really sure how it works, but it's definitely a…_magical _and unprecedented aspect, like something from science-fiction."

"We haven't been using it as much lately though. Jeremie thinks XANA gets stronger whenever we go back in time."

"That's possible – it's like a giant reset button, giving XANA a chance to re-assess its tactics."

"How about the scanners?" Jeremie pressed on.

Bryan looked to be in deep thought. "I don't know much about that either. I assumed there were only three of them, one for Dr. Hopper, Dr. Peterson and my dad to use. I was really surprised that you can all get into LYOKO. I guess like XANA, the supercomputer has also changed to allow anyone to get in."

* * *

><p>"Alright, let's talk about your LYOKO form."<p>

"Is it true you're Luke Skywalker?" Yumi asked interestingly.

"Sort of…except that I only look like one. I don't have a Lightsaber or anything like that."

"And your eyes."

"What about his eyes?"

"They were purple, with multiple dark rings," Ulrich told Yumi.

"Ever heard of the manga called _Naruto_?"

"The one about ninjas?"

"Yep. That's where my eyes came from. The _Rinnegan_."

"So instead of a stick that cuts through all, you got the most powerful dojutsu in the Naruto universe," said Yumi, an avid manga reader.

"What?"

"They allowed the owner to use any jutsu – or technique."

"Including a bulky guy that absorbs lasers?"

"Yes Odd. He's one of the Six Paths of Pain."

"There's _six_ of those orange-hair dudes?"

"Yeah, each with its own ability."

Yumi turned to Bryan. "You know, I've always wondered how Nagato controlled multiple bodies. How does that work?"

"Well, it's kind of like looking through multiple surveillance cameras and playing a video game at the same time. I can control their movements and share their field of vision."

"Amazing." Ulrich shook his head in disbelief.

"Looks like beating William's no longer a problem."

"Who?"

"Some cocky kid that XANA managed to possess."

"Isn't that kind of bad?"

"Not really."

"Oh."

"There's one more thing Bryan. Your life points kept going down…even when you weren't hit," noted Ulrich.

"We thought it might've been a glitch," added Odd.

"No, it's not." All eyes turned on Jeremie.

"It appears that every time you did something, your life points dropped. And I think the amount lost is relative to the power of the technique used."

"I guess it's like an energy constraint for me then," Bryan concurred, taking note of Jeremie's analytical skills.

Aelita spoke up. "While we're on this topic, something happened when I tried using my energy field. Instead, I got some invisible pushing force…kind of like what you did to knock over the Tarantulas."

"Yeah. You're just the power of the wind," Bryan replied as if it was obvious.

"Aelita has more abilities?"

"Of course. She's got the most powerful LYOKO avatar." Aelita tilted her head, blushing.

Ulrich suddenly remembered. "That's right. She has psychic powers."

"Not quite. She's an Elemental."

"You mean like fire, earth, wind and water?" Bryan nodded.

"So when she alters LYOKO's landscape or creates a rock barrier, that's because she's using the earth element, I guess?" said Jeremie.

"And I assume my ability to fly is also from manipulating the wind power. But Jeremie was the one who programmed in my wings. I couldn't fly before."

"It's likely he made it more accessible, Aelita. But you were always able to fly."

"And she can also use fire and water techniques?"

"Yes, they're harder to control though. Of course, when you combine the four elements together, you get pure energy; her energy fields."

Aelita was in awe with herself, she never thought she was the 'best' of anything. Ulrich and Yumi were much more agile and she could never match Odd's sharpshooting skills. In fact, before Jeremie gave her 'energy field', she'd always leave the fighting to them.

She still had one big question. "Bryan, I was also wondering if you knew how my father and I ended up on LYOKO. I can't remember what happened…"

* * *

><p>Bryan's face darkened despite Aelita's hopeful look. He opened his mouth but no words came out, as if he decided to retract what he was about to say in the last moment. "Um, sorry…I don't know."<p>

The girl gave a soft 'oh'. Jeremie was more aggressive though.

"Why not?"

"Jeremie–"

"And another thing. What happened to Project CARTHAGE in the end? Was it abandoned by NATO?"

"I…I don't know."

"I think you're hiding something. Aelita lost her parents and her childhood. How would you feel if–"

"Well, unfortunately I can't understand how that would feel because my parents are dead," Bryan replied angrily, catching Jeremie off-guard

"That's enough," Aelita yelled, silencing the two.

Ulrich looked at Yumi, who looked at Odd. Jeremie felt slightly ashamed: "I'm sorry, I didn't mean…"

Bryan felt his anger leaving him. He took a deep breath. "It's fine. But I honestly don't know about the outcome of Project CARTHAGE, or why Aelita became trapped on LYOKO."

Aelita looked crestfallen. If he didn't know how she and her father ended up on LYOKO, he probably didn't know anything about her mother.

"Let's move onto something else," Odd suggested quickly.

"Fine by me," said Jeremie as he turned once more to Bryan. "Do you know anything about the involvement of the French government with Project CARTHAGE, specifically its secret service?"

The others knew where this was going. The fabled agents of France that dressed in expensive black suits.

For the first time, Bryan looked confused.

"Huh? I don't think they had anything to do with it. Project CARTHAGE was strictly under NATO's wing; the French government didn't have much to do with it, other than maybe providing resources."

"What about the men in black?"

"The movie starring Will Smith and Tommy Lee Jones?"

"No! The government agents who were after Franz Hopper and the supercomputer."

"…What are you talking about?"

"One time, XANA materialized two spectres wearing black suits – like government spies – who tried to kill Aelita and me," Yumi explained.

Aelita remembered that quite well. Yumi was driving a car. Without a license. And it was an old British Leyland 'Princess'. One of the worst cars in history, due to the fact that workers spent more time on strike than making cars. She didn't know why, but since that encounter, she's always had an innate fear of the black-suited men.

"Let me get this straight, you guys think the spectres XANA created were related to the French agents who were after Dr. Hopper and his supercomputer years ago," Bryan said with one hand rested on his cheek. Jeremie nodded.

"I'm…I'm pretty sure those aren't French spies."

"How so?"

"Well…it might look good in movies, but don't you think it's odd for secret agents to be wearing black suits while on duty? They'd stand out too much, making recon useless."

"I guess…that makes sense," said Yumi.

"And…France is one of the good guys – it was and is still with NATO. Why would it go against a group it was part of?"

Jeremie never really considered it like that. Bryan's reasoning created further mystery on who the men in black really were, or if they were actually real. But according to Aelita's dreams…

"Wait, so could the men in black just be XANA trying to interfere with Aelita's memories?"

"…It can do that?"

"Yes. In one of my dreams, I was running away – with my father – from…these two men in black suits. It seemed so real to me…as if it actually happened," Aelita recalled.

"Hmm…that's disturbing. If someone's really after the supercomputer, it could be quite dangerous," said Bryan.

"They'd be able to go back in time…gain foresight to fix mistakes."

"Alter history," Ulrich muttered in agreement.

Bryan got up. "Then I guess…that's why my dad wanted me here. Not only to rescue Aelita and defeat XANA, but to also prevent the supercomputer from falling into the wrong hands."

"I'm still amazed you five managed to hold XANA at bay and keep it a secret," he smiled. "I think I'm going to like it here… and…if I could join you guys…"

Aelita waved her hand. "Don't be silly, of course you're welcome to join us."

"Yeah. It'll be great having you with us," Yumi said with a warm smile. She liked him; he was bright but modest as well, and very laid-back.

Odd jumped up. "Indubitably! Welcome aboard Captain B! I'll just need twenty Euros and if you could fill out a Team LYOKO application form before you go… You'll receive your badge within a day, and then you're officially part of our squad!"

"He's kidding," Ulrich told Bryan, who had already taken out his wallet.

Jeremie's mood also seemed to have lifted. He still felt that Bryan was keeping something from them…but at least he seemed like a nice guy. And he was definitely a key asset in the fight against XANA.

Odd looked down at his watch. "Guys, it's getting late, and it's Tortellini Thursday."

"Yeah, I should probably be heading home as well. My mom would kill me if I was late for dinner."

"Would you like a geographically-adept companion to walk you home?" Ulrich offered.

Yumi smiled. "Much appreciated, Captain Sense of Direction. We'll see you guys later. And it was nice meeting you, Bryan." And with that, the not-a-couple-but-clearly-should-be duo headed for the elevator.

"Are those two...?"

"It's painstakingly obvious to everyone except them," sighed Odd, shaking his head.

"We should get going as well. You too Jeremie," said Aelita.

"Dinnertime!" exclaimed Odd as he dragged Jeremie away from the room, leaving the two LYOKO children to follow suit.

* * *

><p>"Hey–"<p>

"Thank you. For saving me on LYOKO. And for clarifying things with us today."

Bryan felt a pang of guilt. Aelita had the right to know about his speculations and what he had been involved in. But to be the bringer of depressing news and to get his new friends involved in something even more dangerous…

She stared into his dark blue eyes, perhaps expecting to see the ripple pattern like on LYOKO. Bryan smiled and rested his hands over her shoulders.

"I know you want to know more about what happened. So do I. I'm still piecing together the fragments of the past. We both want to put an end to XANA, and have a normal, high-school life. You know, good times, homework, good times doing homework…"

Aelita laughed. "Nice that you enjoy doing homework, you can do mine too then."

"We'll see. Anyways, I'm sure that in the end, everything will surely be alright."

_Everything will surely be alright_. Aelita had heard of this phrase before, but from where? Nevertheless, she found comfort in Bryan's words. They both shared something in common – their lives were intertwined with LYOKO and Project CARTHAGE. Bryan may have secrets that he wanted to keep to himself, but she trusted and accepted his enigmatic character.

"Getting all corny now, are we?" Aelita said teasingly.

The boy grinned as they went after the others. "Of course! Corny is in this year."

* * *

><p><strong>Fragmented Legacy Fun Fact 007:<strong>

For new readers, main characters are introduced with brief profiles inspired from _Scott Pilgrim_. Some fun facts will be important later on in the story =D

* * *

><p><strong>A|N's:<strong>

I wanted to include more stuff in the Team LYOKO + Bryan Q&A session (i.e. Project CARTHAGE, Aelita's past, etc.). But then this chapter would be super-long.

Feel free to leave a comment, and as always, thanks for reading Code LYOKO: Fragmented Legacies =) [There's a looooong way to go before The End, and I'm always looking for ways to improve my writing skills =)]


	8. CLSS01

**8: (CLSS-01) Walking home together is always better, until an inevitable interruption occurs**

* * *

><p>"I like him," Yumi admitted to Ulrich.<p>

The boy had been taking a swig of water suddenly spat it all out and started coughing. "Whaoo?" he sputtered – the slurred combination of 'what' and 'who'.

"Take it easy," she said, thumping her friend on the back.

Occasionally, Ulrich would 'escort' Yumi home. While she insisted that there was no need for him to do this - that he was simply wasting time by going back and forth - she secretly enjoyed these walks. It was nice having someone like Ulrich to talk to; she seldom spoke with anyone during her classes. They talked about everything. Today's discussion featured a rant from Ulrich about how Bayern Munich was going to win the Treble this year.

"I was talking about Bryan. He seems like a good addition to our team…unlike William."

"Much better," Ulrich agreed.

"I mean, he seems nice and modest. I feel bad for him though, losing his parents. And on New Year's Eve as well."

"Yeah," Ulrich nodded solemnly, reminiscing about his own family, with whom he frequently argued with. But after hearing Bryan's story, he felt a renewed sense of gratitude that both of his parents were alive and well. Sure, his mother and father were very strict, but Ulrich knew that they cared for him and only wanted help him to achieve his full potential and live a good life. He didn't know what he'd do without them.

"And it looks like we can fight on even footing against XANA with his help, even when we're not at full strength," Yumi continued.

"Right. He can do virtually anything on LYOKO…kind of makes us look bad," Ulrich added sheepishly.

"Well, from what I've heard, you managed to take apart two teams of Hornets by yourself. But if he really did inherit the Rinnegan's complete arsenal, he'll have to be careful of its drawbacks and limitations."

"Oh, speaking of that, do you have any copies of that comic book?"

"You mean manga," she corrected him. "I never knew you had an inner passion for this kind of stuff."

Ulrich started to turn red. "Umm…well, Bryan made it sound interesting."

"And I don't?"

"Uh…"

"Relax. I'm just playing with you. I think I've got some at home I can lend you. I'll see if I can find them."

"Thanks, Yumi."

As they kept walking on a sidewalk littered with brightly–coloured leaves, Ulrich tried his best to avoid looking directly into his friend's eyes.

_We're just friends_. He still hadn't gotten over her unofficial rejection, at least for the time being. In fact, there were several moments when he thought that maybe, they could…

"Ulrich, hello?" The boy snapped out of his train of thought.

"Huh? Oh, sorry. Just – just thinking about the math homework," he replied quickly.

"Well, I've got something that will cheer you up. Jim told us that because the weather's getting cold, he's giving up on softball; so it's going to be indoor football next week."

Ulrich 'feet over hands' Stern's face lit up. "Really? That's great!"

Getting an A in physical education was no longer a problem. Showing off was also now enabled. Not that he was particularly bad at softball, but it was kind of embarrassing to catch a fly ball and then drop it from the shock of being able to catch it in the first place.

"How about you? Decided which university you wanted to go to yet?"

"Not really."

"Don't you have to apply soon for that stuff and for other things, like scholarships?"

The girl nodded. "The application process starts in November. But…I'm not sure what I want to do."

"Didn't you take a course on career studies last year?"

"Yeah. Apparently, I have the skills to be a decent plumber."

Ulrich snorted before entering full laughter mode while trying to imagine his friend dressed in coveralls and repairing household pipe systems. Yumi started to laugh as well.

"I dunno. Right now, I'm still figuring out what I'm good at and what I enjoy doing most."

"I'm sure you'll make the right choice in the end."

"Thanks."

"Just remember that when you get mega-ultra rich, I want ten percent of your earnings."

Yumi playfully shoved Ulrich. "I'll treat you to McDonalds, how's that?"

Ulrich smiled. "It's a start."

* * *

><p>Soon, the two had arrived at the front porch of 36 Promenade Bellevue. It was a nice, mid-sized detached house, with plenty of windows and a two-door garage.<p>

Yumi turned around.

"Thanks for walking me home. Would you like to stay for dinner?"

Ulrich thought about it. Having dinner with Yumi equivocated to being able to spend more time with Yumi. That was a good thing. On the other hand, her parents were sure to pepper him with plenty of awkward questions, which was kind of a bad thing.

"Thanks for the offer Yumi, but…I don't want Jim to catch me outside of school so late."

Yumi smiled and leaned in towards Ulrich. "Fair enough, maybe next time," she whispered. Her lips were millimetres from his cheek. From this close…perhaps she should…

See her younger brother coming out. Yumi instinctively shoved Ulrich away.

"Finally, you're home! Mom was getting a bit worried. Oh, hey Ulrich, what's up?" he added, nodding to the boy.

**Hiroki Ishiyama  
>Age: 14<br>Rating: Too young to drink or drive.  
>Fun facts:<br>He is currently ranked third in Kadic's active prankster list (Odd is ranked first).  
>His hobbies include robotics and ruining countless U &amp; Y moments since 2005.<strong>

"Nothing much. Yumi's trying to get me into manga."

"Eww. Trust me Ulrich, you won't like it. Those stories go on and on. They have cute girls and all, but they never kiss or fall in love until the end."

"Ah…okay."

Yumi glared at her brother. "I think I hear mom calling you to go help set the table."

"Huh? I don't hear any – oh, I get it. You want some alone time with your boyfriend," Hiroki placed extra emphasis on his last few words.

"He's not my boyfriend. And don't let mom hear you," she uttered under her breath. Ulrich felt his insides slightly deflating.

"Whatever. Just hurry up and give him a good-bye kiss. Dad will be home soon." And with that, Hiroki left the two flustered teenagers alone.

"So, umm…" Ulrich started rubbing the back of his head, unable to come up with anything to say.

"Sorry about that. You know Hiroki…he just has to enter any conversation."

"I can relate. My sister is of the exact same breed. She'll come interrupt your conversation and when you move away, she'll continue yapping away with the person closest to her."

Yumi chuckled. "Anyways, thanks again. I'll give you the books tomorrow."

"Cool."

"And they'd better be in good condition when you bring them back to me," she added, wagging her finger.

"O-of course. Definitely."

Yumi grinned. "One last thing before you go…"

Mustering her courage and daring nature, she approached Ulrich and gave him a quick peck on the cheek.

"A good-bye kiss, right? Be safe. I'll see you tomorrow," she murmured into his ear. She straightened up, waved, and headed inside; leaving a beet-red and stunned Ulrich Stern on her doorstep, with a hand over his cheek.

* * *

><p><strong>Fragmented Legacy Fun Fact 008:<br>**

Occasionally, there will be Code LYOKO Short Stories (CLSS's) that focus on amazing character development and comedic relief.

* * *

><p><strong>A|N's:<strong>

Originally, I wanted to write this into Chapter 7, but that would mean making it appear to have too much going on at one time for my tastes. Plus, when I wrote this part, I felt that the content warranted its own unique, short and sweet chapter. There has never been much doubt in my mind as to who Ulrich's 'the one' will be. The same goes for Yumi (hint: it's not William).

Feel free to leave a comment, and as always, thanks for reading Code LYOKO: Fragmented Legacies =)


	9. An October of opportunities

**9: An October of opportunities**

* * *

><p><strong>JEREMIE<strong>

It was the middle of October and Oktoberfest had come and gone. Sadly, Jeremie and the others were all underage, and thus couldn't enjoy the German festivity of delectable sausages, sauerkraut and the wonderful bitter beverage that is beer.

It was also the end of the world. Or in a more optimistic view, it was a miracle at Kadic Academy.

Jeremie Belpois had joined an extra-curricular activity, at Aelita's persuasion. Usually, working on the supercomputer and keeping up with their academics kept the two of them – and the rest of Team LYOKO for that matter – too occupied to sign up for many school activities.

However, the Senior Robotics club took place every Friday afternoon, and was flexible; you didn't have to attend every single session to earn participation credits. And this year, they were working on designing an underwater robot as part of an engineering competition next spring. Truly exciting stuff for hands-on students like Jeremie. He was probably the go-to person when it came to automation and mechanics, in addition to computer technology. He did take first place in the science fair last year, when his robot defeated Herb's in an epic robo-brawl.

It also looked good on one's resume, Yumi had remarked. After all, he would have to start applying to various post-secondary institutions a year from now; and Jeremie knew that having blank spaces on extra-curricular involvement did not leave too good of an impression, despite his high marks.

Odd then suggested another incentive for Jeremie with a wink and a nudge – it indirectly gave him a greater opportunity to be around Aelita.

Not that he was interested in her in any way. That was simply absurd. Blasphemy.

Since XANA's last attack and having modified all of the LYOKO warrior avatars, Jeremie found himself spending less and less time in the factory with Aelita. In fact, he seldom talked to her, even in class. Sometimes, he took his laptop and homework assignments to the library, hoping that Aelita would show up. But lately, he rarely saw his pink-haired friend.

Perhaps she was spending more time with Bryan. Jeremie didn't know why, but he felt a slight resentment towards him. While he consistently reminded himself that Aelita was his companion, after all the time they spent together last year. Besides, Bryan probably had his own special someone back in Canada, he still felt a bit uncomfortable every time Bryan managed to make her smile or laugh.

Sure, Jeremie got along pretty well with him; they would often discuss recent projects and the various features of the supercomputer. While Bryan knew much more about the historical aspects, Jeremie displayed his superiority regarding the technical components, such as programming. Although Jeremie wouldn't admit it, he liked being in command of the situation – being the one who dictated the conversation. It was his style of leadership.

Clearly, the Senior Robotics Club was a way to reaffirm his and Aelita's relationship. And Bryan never seemed to be around on Friday afternoons…

Jeremie could picture himself winning the competition in his mind. Aelita was by his side, hand in hand, beaming. He might even get another kiss. Only this time, his goal was not to completely freeze up from shock.

* * *

><p><strong>BRYAN<strong>

Meanwhile, Bryan had successfully adjusted to life at Kadic. It was awkward at the beginning though, this was his first time at a boarding school, where he stayed on campus 24/7. Back in Canada, it was a day school system: classes from 9 to 3 then go home.

In addition, there were many students whispering behind his back about his blue hair and whether or not it was even genetically possible, or whether he was just another hardcore anime fan who dyed his hair like Marge Simpson. Of course, he was used to such banter from his old school and so it didn't bother him too much.

Aelita's pink hair also got tossed into the conversation. Some even joked that it would not be long before Kadic got a student with green or even purple hair. Nothing like a little diversity.

Bryan had also signed up for the indoor tennis club, thanks to his fellow Kadic noob buddy Catherine possessing a spare racket. They still kept in touch, albeit less frequently as Catherine spent more time with the senior students, while Bryan was hanging out with Aelita, Jeremie, Odd, Ulrich and Yumi.

Indeed, Bryan 'hands over feet' Green was adept in hand and racket sports, including hockey (obviously), baseball and volleyball. Nevertheless, he still struck chords with Ulrich – it turned out that Bryan was a huge fan of Manchester United FC. Naturally, the footy chat would return to 1999, in which United defeated Ulrich's favourite club, Bayern Munich in the most dramatic fashion to win the Champions League. By this point, Ulrich would usually try to change the subject.

Furthermore, academics proved to be a non-issue. Bryan quickly got up to speed on each of his courses, thanks to Aelita. The two often went to a small, empty classroom after school, where Aelita would review everything he missed the past month.

While he was not to finish his assignments or in-class evaluations (it was usually Jeremie or Nicholas, who had given up), he still managed to perform surprisingly well.

This left plenty of time to chat with Aelita after each of their 'tutorials'.

Recently, she invited Bryan to join the Robotics Club with her and Jeremie. The boy laughed and shook his head, saying that he wasn't very good or interested in automation and that he'd probably end up building something that would wreak havoc on mankind.

On the other hand, Bryan was surprised at Aelita's innocent nature. After all, she had been trapped on LYOKO for quite a while, and had only started last year to 'get with the times'. And it was kind of cute to see Aelita's blank expression or look of amazement whenever they talked about general pop culture.

* * *

><p><strong>AELITA<strong>

"Before today's lab, I'm going to hand back your tests from last week. I'll also give back your geography presentation marks at the end of the day," said Mrs. Hertz.

Every other Wednesday was usually a laboratory session, which gave students a chance socialize and be more relaxed midway through the week. It also provided an ample time of five days in which to write up a formal lab report to be submitted the following Monday.

Bryan had asked Aelita whether she wanted to be lab buddies after she got her test back. The girl turned to Jeremie, her usual lab partner, who gave a shrug of indifference.

_Suit yourself_.

Even though the two were always the first to finish, and earned the highest marks, it was Jeremie who seemed to do most of the work. In addition, they didn't talk much either during the lab; they just worked silently on their objectives. And Aelita had a feeling that Jeremie hadn't quite forgiven her completely after that one time where she added to much alcohol during a heats of combustion experiment.

She turned back to Bryan and smiled.

"Sure."

"Mr. Green," Mrs. Hertz called out. Bryan got up nervously. It seemed that like Ulrich, he seemed to get post-evaluation jitters. He went up to the front of the room and took his paper, then received a smile from the teacher.

As Bryan went back to his seat, Odd flashed him a thumbs-up while Ulrich was running out of nails to chew on as his name was called up after.

"How'd you do?" asked Aelita. Bryan showed her his quiz.

Near-perfect. Well, he had gotten the same mark as her: 48/50. Before, it was usually Aelita, Herb, Jeremie or Melanie who possessed the top test grades in the class; they were even dubbed the 'Fantastic Four.'

She pointed to the last question on his paper; there was a red circle was scrawled over it with the comment 'watch out!'. Bryan added instead of subtracting, despite having written a minus sign in his answer.

Bryan would've gotten perfect, if he remembered how to do basic elementary math.

"You know, I'm not sure if I feel confident working with a partner who mixes up adding and subtracting. What if you pour too much acid to our solution?" she teased.

Bryan responded by sticking his tongue out at Aelita. She laughed and mimicked his gesture.

"_A-hem_." Mrs. Hertz had finished handing back the tests and was now looking at Bryan and Aelita with her customary stern expression.

"Are you two done?" she asked politely. Both of them turned pink and nodded some students started to snicker.

"Good. Now onto today's experiment: acid and base titration…"

Well, at least it didn't involve the 'c-word': combustion. Aelita sighed as Mrs. Hertz started to explain the procedures for the lab. Not wanting Mrs. Hertz to catch them talking again, Bryan started scribbling something on the side of Aelita's notebook. Curious, she looked down.

_Don't worry too much. Won't add 2 much acid to sol'n. Guaranteed._

Aelita grinned, before replying with a message of her own.

_How so?_

Bryan finished copying down the instructions Mrs. Hertz wrote on the chalkboard. Aelita only then noticed that he was left-handed.

_Duh. I get to use a calculator. Can't go wrong there._

She raised her eyebrows at such an obvious statement, and playfully punched Bryan's left shoulder. Keeping with the renowned Canadian tradition of peaceful conflict resolution, Bryan didn't respond with senseless and ineffective physical violence. Instead, he wrote some more on Aelita's paper.

_Hey, stop! I need this left arm of mine to show off my awesome penmanship skills!_

Indeed, his handwriting was quite legible and straight. It might even be considered as a custom computer font in the future. In other words, he wrote like a girl.

And unfortunately, Bryan's request for a ceasefire was subsequently ignored, as Aelita lightly jabbed at his shoulder again.

So, he poked the side of Aelita's tummy, which caused her to jerk up slightly. She narrowed her eyes and scrunched up her nose. And yet, the smile remained on her face as she poked him back. This proved that sometimes, even the most mature and intellectual high school students still tended to act like little children.

* * *

><p><strong>ODD<strong>

Team LYOKO was doing their homework together in the library for the first time in a month. Surprisingly, it was all Jeremie's idea – the one who always insisted on working independently.

When Ulrich asked why the sudden change in behaviour, concerned that his friend was high on an illicit substance, Jeremie merely shrugged him off and said that he didn't have anything better to do anyways.

True, he hadn't visited the factory in nearly two weeks. Strangely enough, XANA had not launched an attack since Bryan's arrival to Kadic. While Odd interpreted this lull as XANA being fearful of Bryan's prowess on LYOKO, the others knew that it wouldn't be long before they made their way back into the Scanners…

Furthermore, Aelita, Jeremie, Odd and Ulrich had received their marks from their geography presentations. But only Odd was complaining.

"Those Wikipedia bastards…" he muttered.

"Cheer up, Odd. You'll do better next time once you realize that Wikipedia is an illegitimate referencing source."

"Translate that for us won't you, Aelita?"

"Sure. Don't use Wikipedia for research projects."

"Well, Odd. You know who to go to for help on the next geography assignment," said Ulrich with a flashy smile.

Yumi chuckled, but rolled her eyes at the same time. Ulrich received bragging rights for earning the highest mark in the class for his geography project. No, an _AWESOME!_ geography project, according to her friend.

"Hey Bryan," said Catherine as she walked by with an armful of novels.

Odd's jaw dropped.

"Oh, hi Catherine. What brings you to literature heaven?"

"Nothing much. Just signing out some books and checking whether they had the new Crispin novel."

"Well, I'm sure it's here somewhere," blurted Odd.

Catherine laughed, before looking back to Bryan. "Aren't you going to introduce me to your friends?"

"Uh, right. Over here is Ulrich, Yumi – you know, she's in your class – Jeremie, Aelita and Odyssey. I mean O –"

"Odd. Just Odd," said Odd, followed by a quick glare at Bryan.

"Well, it's real nice meeting you all. I guess I'll leave you guys alone to do your homework then. And, I'll see you at tennis practice tomorrow?" she said to Bryan.

"Definitely," the boy nodded.

"Alright. Catch you guys later." And with that, Catherine disappeared behind another shelve of books.

Yumi turned her head to find Odd's eyes still fixated at the direction Catherine was headed. She nudged Ulrich, and they both started to snicker. It was when Aelita, Bryan and Jeremie started to chortle as well, that they got Odd's attention.

"What?"

"Oh…just…what book was she looking for again?" Ulrich sniggered.

"Very funny, Ulrich."

"Looks like someone's developed a crush in less than a minute," Jeremie mumbled as he was reading a book on photovoltaic cells.

"Well, she's not bad. Cheerful. Beautif…hey Bryan, why didn't you ever tell us you were friends with a goddess?"

"Huh? Goddess? Oh, I…I don't...uh…"

"Odd, I hate to break it to you. But I believe she's already seeing someone. I mean, right from the first day she came to our class, all the guys were head over heels for her."

"Really?" Odd felt a part of himself deflate. Yumi nodded.

"What's about Samantha? Anything going on between the two of you?" asked Jeremie.

Samantha Knight. Fellow classmate, and considered to be Odd's girlfriend in waiting by Team LYOKO.

"Well…I don't know. I haven't seen her a lot lately, you know with all this homework. And we don't really have the same courses outside of the core subjects."

Ulrich looked down at his watch. It was a quarter to six.

"Sorry guys, but me and Yumi have to go practice Pencak Silat now," he said as he closed his books.

"Pencak Silat? Is that some kind of martial arts?" inquired an interested Bryan.

"Huh? Yeah. It's Indonesian. You're welcome to come with us. It's usually just only me and Ulrich. Jim shows up from time to time though."

"Hmm. Sure. Should be fun," said Bryan as he too started to pack his belongings.

"Alright, we'll see you guys at dinner then," said Ulrich.

"Fine. Take good care of Bryan for us," replied Aelita with a teasing smile. Bryan responded with his usual tongue sticking tactic, before he went to follow Ulrich and Yumi.

* * *

><p><strong>ODD<strong>

The boy with gravity-defying hair was surprisingly quiet throughout the rest of the study session with Aelita and Jeremie. He only opened his mouth when he had a question pertaining to the homework.

He wasn't even fully focused on his homework. The image of Catherine was still etched in his mind.

She was very likely the most gorgeous looking person he had ever laid eyes on; except for maybe himself, and with no offense to Aelita or Yumi. Sure, those two were pretty hot, but Catherine; she was definitely on another level…

She may not have been wearing the tightest clothing that looked as if it was actually directly latched onto skin, but the curves on her chest definitely stood out.

Of course, it wasn't only her physical features…

Catherine sounded like an extremely fun and cheerful person; one that barely ever got annoyed or frustrated. The way she laughed and smiled, it just melted his insides.

She had to be the world's most powerful anti-depressant.

And so, he made up his mind, and tasked himself with a new mission.

The Halloween dance was coming up soon. Ignoring what Yumi said about Catherine being taken, Odd started to come up with ways of getting closer to Catherine.

Maybe this time, he had really found 'the one'.

* * *

><p><strong>AELITA<strong>

"They should really serve coffee in the morning," muttered Ulrich as he yawned. He was really looking forward to getting a good night's sleep tonight after staying up late to finish his English paper. After all, it was Friday – sleeping in tomorrow without getting into trouble was now possible.

"Now now, Ulrich. We all know – well, I'll tell you later Bryan – about the last time you had caffeine in the early hours," said Odd.

Aelita, Bryan, Odd and Ulrich were having breakfast at their usual table near the corner of the cafeteria, close to the wide bay windows.

Jeremie was absent once again. He usually either skipped breakfast altogether – and was reprimanded by Aelita for this – or came into class with a granola bar and a carton of milk.

"Yeah, as I far as I could remember, you were unable to stop talking all morning," came Yumi's voice as she sat down on the corner seat beside Ulrich. All she had was a shiny red apple; she had already eaten a traditional Japanese breakfast back home.

"Ha ha. Very funny, Yumi," the boy with low caffeine tolerance replied.

"Besides, that stuff is yucky. What you need is a small glass of grapefruit juice," said Aelita, motioning to her own glass of ruby-red liquid.

"Hey, Mrs. Einstein."

Aelita looked up.

It was Sissy, with Herb and Nicholas standing on either side of her. Ruining numerous morning breakfasts with their unwelcome presence since 2004.

"Oh great, what do you want now?"

"How nice of you Yumi, shooting down the messenger. I just came by to say that my father wants to see you in his office _immediately_," said Sissi, pointing a finger at Aelita.

Silence descended over the entire table. Apart from an adolescent Mother Teresa, Aelita was possibly the last person you'd expect to get into trouble or have anything to do with the words 'go to the principal's office.'

"The principal wants to see Aelita?"

"Yes, Bryan. God, and I thought Nicholas was the only one as thick as a troll. Apparently, Canadians are slow on the uptake as well."

"Am not," Bryan and Nicholas protested. She ignored them both.

Aelita looked down, trying to think of possible reasons as to why Principal Delmas wanted to see her. What on earth could she have done?

That's when a she arrived at a startling conclusion: _what if he's found out about my true identity? _Indeed, forging your surname and admission into any educational institution was a serious offense.

"You must be in reeeeal big trouble. I mean, classes haven't even started yet," Sissi smirked as she blew a kiss to Ulrich, who responded with a face of absolute disgust. Yumi looked semi-livid, which meant that if violent actions were tolerated in France's education curriculum, Sissi would be crawling away half-dead.

Aelita slowly started to get up, trembling slightly.

Odd started moving his lips, but it was hard to discern what he was trying to say thanks to a mouth full of scrambled eggs and bacon.

"I think…" Ulrich started, "what Odd's trying to say is…'I'm sure everything'll be fine, Princess.'" Odd gave a thumbs up as if to say _I couldn't have said it better myself_.

"It's probably some small thing. Forget about Sissi."

"Yeah, nothing to worry about. If Jeremie were here, he'd provide you with a good old-fashioned statistic," added Bryan, nodding.

Yumi chuckled. "Probably something along the lines of '98.7 percent of students sent to see the principal do not actually receive detention'. Or something like that."

Aelita smiled. "Alright. Thanks you guys."

* * *

><p>She stepped into the head office to find Principal Delmas's door slightly ajar. The head secretary looked up.<p>

"Ah, Ms. Stones. Yes. You can just head on in to Mr. Delmas's office. And congratulations," said Mrs. Dupont with a slight smile.

Aelita was puzzled. _Congratulations, you just got a detention_? That outcome no longer seemed plausible – she wondered what was going on. She knocked softly on the heavy wooden oak door.

"Come in," came Mr. Delmas's voice.

Aelita slowly entered his office, and was shocked to find that there were several individuals standing beside Principal Delmas: Jim, Mr. Chardin – her music teacher, and:

Chris Morales. The lead drummer of the SubDigitals. He looked quite cheerful.

_Right_. The auditions. Suddenly, Aelita felt more relaxed, if not a bit elated to see one of her music idols standing right in front of her.

"Hey Aelita, how're you doing?" Chris asked, grinning.

For a split second, Aelita was too stunned to speak. _Chris was talking to her_.

"F-F…I'm fine. Well. And you–yourself?"

"Not too bad, thank you."

Principal Delmas stepped in. "Well, as you might have already guessed, Chris is here from the SubDigitals was rather impressed with your demo, and has offered you –"

"–One of the greatest opportunities of your young musical career. I knew you had it in you all along, Ms. Stones. And my nephew–"

"A-_hem_. Thank you Jim. As I was saying, Chris wants you to be a part of their group and take part in their concert next year at the Paris Waterfront as the opening act, and we'd just like to over the details with you."

Chris smiled encouragingly, taking off his sunglasses. Beside him, Mr. Chardin gave Aelita a thumbs-up.

"Oh. O–okay." Aelita stuttered a bit, still shocked by all of this – she never thought that she would be the one selected out of all the other applications. Her throat felt a bit dry, but her insides felt as light as air. She couldn't wait to tell the others.

This October has truly been a month of opportunities.

* * *

><p><strong>Fragmented Legacy Fun Fact 009:<br>**

Like the author, Bryan has difficulties in remembering names. For instance, he calls Odd 'Odyssey', and William 'Wilhelm' or 'Willy'.

* * *

><p><strong>A|N's:<strong>

A week ago, this story reached 1000 hits – which to me, is an amazing accomplishment. Thank you everyone for your continued support! And next week, another one of my 'milestones' will be achieved: the tenth chapter, which will be released at the ultra-cool date of 11|11|11 =D

Feel free to leave a comment, and as always, thanks for reading Code LYOKO: Fragmented Legacies =)


	10. It's Friday, Friday!

**10: It's Friday, Friday!**

* * *

><p><strong>JEREMIE<strong>

It was a sunny Friday afternoon as another week of classes at KadicAcademy came to an end.

Team LYOKO had split up for the rest of the day, but not to search for clues à la Scooby Doo.

Aelita, Bryan and Jeremie were at the abandoned factory. Since no evil virus was trying to take over the world, Ulrich and Odd decided to sit this one out and finish their chemistry lab instead. Of course, they remained on standby should XANA decide to rear its ugly yet largely enigmatic head.

Meanwhile, Yumi was at a university and colleges fair with her parents. The application process was soon and she was still trying to decide on which post-secondary institution she wanted to go to.

Bryan wanted to extract some of his father's files stored in the databases in Sector 5, which also interested Jeremie. After all, there was plenty of time before the premier meeting of the Senior Robotics Club took place; of which Aelita would not be attending, for she had another extra-curricular activity that evening.

* * *

><p><strong><em>Two days ago<em>**

_Aelita entered English class with Orwell's Nineteen Eighty-four in her hands, and a wide smile on her face as she headed for her seat._

_Unlike the majority of Kadic's teachers, Mr. Hodgson preferred table groups over individual desks. Given that English was a more interactive course, this arrangement allowed for better open discussions as opposed to written evaluations. __He also allowed his students to choose who they wanted to sit beside. Naturally, the five LYOKO warriors chose to sit at the same table._

_"So? What happened?" asked Jeremie, who was munching on a granola bar. Fortunately, Aelita was too elated to reprimand him for having another power breakfast._

_"I – I got the job."_

_"Wait, what job?"_

_Odd's face broke into a grin. "The SubDigitals, right?"_

_Aelita nodded enthusiastically._

_"I'm going to be the opening act for the SubDigitals next year and I'm meeting the rest of the band for practice this Friday. Principal Delmas also wanted me to be the DJ for the upcoming Halloween dance as well," she said breathlessly._

_"Wow, that's super awesome," Ulrich remarked._

_Aelita beamed. She thought Bryan looked worried, but a moment later he was smiling and offering his congratulations._

_"Wait, this Friday?" Jeremie asked sharply. _

_"Five thirty at their studio. They offered me a ride, but I told them I could get there on my own – to save them some hassle. The only problem is that…"_

_"You forgot to ask how to get there," Bryan finished. Aelita nodded sheepishly._

_"It's somewhere in downtown…about the – wait I wrote it down." She took out her notebook and handed it to Bryan._

_"Okay. Ah…I know that area. You want me to take you there? I was going in that direction anyways."_

_"Sure. If you wouldn't mind, that'd be great Bryan."_

_"Speaking of which Mr. B, you never seem to be around on Friday afternoons."_

_"Your boyfriend's worried sick about you. He misses you dearly," said Ulrich airily._

_"Um, thanks Odd. Yeah, I always go downtown on Fridays."_

_"Why's that?" _

_"I have a job."_

_"Wait, what job?" asked Ulrich in a flurry of déjà vu._

_"Nothing big. I babysit for one of my dad's friends. I stayed there for a couple of days before I came here."_

_"Cool. Much better than working at Mickey D's."_

_"I'm sorry?"_

_"He means McDonalds," said Jeremie who added: "so Aelita, I guess you won't join me at the Robotics Club then?"_

_"What?" Aelita then recalled that she persuaded Jeremie to sign up for that club, on the condition that she was joining as well._

_"Uh…well…"_

_"It's alright. I see where your priorities lie. You've got more important things to tend to."_

_"I – I'm sorry…" She disliked it when Jeremie acted like this towards her, even preferring that he yelled at her instead; his cold demeanour only made her feel more disheartened._

_Odd stepped in. "Einstein, just let her go. This is I'm pretty sure a once – if not twice – in a lifetime opportunity."_

_Ulrich nodded. "Besides, shouldn't Aelita have a say as to what she wants to participate in?"_

_Jeremie sighed. "Fine. You're right. Just…good luck and have fun. This is the opportunity you've always wanted, right? A-and to me…you'd make Mozart jealous," he added._

_"Thanks, Jeremie," Aelita giggled._

_The computer wizard knew it was the right thing to do. But in his mind, all was not fine. He was hoping to finally be able to spend more time with her. It had been a busy week. While he had managed to complete most of his assignments, he rarely hung out with the other LYOKO warriors._

* * *

><p><strong>BRYAN<strong>

The Jedi Knight landed right beside the pink angel that was Aelita. They were standing at the edge of the Mountain sector again, only this time, there were no buzzing Hornets or activated Towers to worry about.

"I'm transferring you to CARTHAGE now," said Jeremie as he typed in 'SCIPIO'. A white sphere emerged and swivelled around the two, taking them in before vanishing. It reappeared moments later inside Sector 5.

Aelita and Bryan stepped out as the walls in front of them opened to reveal a large chamber. When they entered the Core Zone, the blue walls shook and transformed into a maze-like structure. A timer showed up on Jeremie's screen.

"Right. Three minutes to find the key."

"Er…what key?"

"It's a switch that grants access to the other areas of Sector 5. If we don't locate and activate it in time, this place rearranges itself and we'll have to start over," Aelita explained as she searched for the button.

"So it's like some kind of security measure."

"Exactly."

"Two minutes left."

_Hmm..._Bryan closed his eyes. His field of vision instantly turned into a black-and-white grid of the entire Core Zone. And he could see an odd lever sticking out behind a hidden wall.

"I found it," said Bryan, opening his eyes.

"Huh?"

"It's behind that wall over there," he pointed above them, about several hundred metres to the left.

Jeremie understood. Yumi had given him a crash course regarding Bryan's LYOKO abilities that were based off of some manga. He had some sort of field inversion ability that allowed him to see _everything_, even things hidden from view or in his blind spots.

"I'm on it." Aelita activated her wings and flew to where Bryan pointed. He was right. In front of her was a small red button. She pressed it and the timer stopped at 1:23.

"Excellent," said Jeremie as a wall opened at the other end of the chamber.

Aelita flew back down and regrouped with Bryan, as the two soon found themselves outside of the Core Zone and into a small corridor.

"Get ready to jump," said Aelita. Bryan nodded.

A sideways-moving elevator soon came into view and didn't decelerate as it approached them. They leapt onto it, and it immediately shot upwards, slowing down as it reached the top.

Aelita stepped off first and proceeded towards a standing display screen at the end of a narrow path. As soon as Bryan got off, the elevator headed back down again.

He looked around, now standing outside of the spherical sector and was surrounded by a dark blue skyscape. On either side of him were streams of binary code being emitted from the Core to other parts of LYOKO.

"So, what were you looking for?" Bryan paused, trying to recall the name of the folder.

"Uh, see if there's anything named 'Green CARTHAGE'." Aelita typed it in and ran a search on the database contents, which came up with eight matches. Bryan leaned in and looked with his ripple-patterned eyes.

"I think it's this one," he pointed to the folder entitled: _Green_CARTHAGEspec2_.

Aelita prepared to extract the contents and forward them to Jeremie when a pop-up appeared the screen requesting an access code.

"Darn," Bryan muttered. He didn't anticipate that the folder had been locked.

"What's wrong?"

"We need an access code to extract the files," replied Aelita, entering 'LYOKO', 'SCIPIO' and 'CARTHAGE', but none of them was correct. Bryan came up with further suggestions, such as 'GREEN', 'PUNIC', 'ROME', and 'AFRICANUS'.

Jeremie was thinking. The access code likely related to the Carthaginian wars – as did the other passcodes; SCIPIO…CARTHAGE. He was also staring at the screen, expecting XANA to show up at any minute. _XANA…_

That's when it dawned upon him.

"What about 'ZAMA'?" The final decisive battle of the Second Punic War in which Scipio Africanus led the Romans to victory.

Aelita typed it in. It worked. The files were unlocked.

"Nice Jeremie. You should be getting them now," she said. It wasn't that large of a folder, and Jeremie had transferred it all onto his memory stick in minutes.

"Got it. I'll provide you with a copy tomorrow, Bryan."

"Sure."

"Alright, I'm starting the devirtualization process. Just in time too…you guys have a bus to catch."

"Well…that was quite uneventful," said Bryan cheerfully as he disappeared.

Aelita nodded as she too started to devirtualize. However, as she faded awayegan to dissolve, she thought she could see a lone Manta, gliding in the distance.

* * *

><p><strong>AELITA<strong>

"Here's our stop." Bryan said, wriggling his way towards the front of the crowded bus with Aelita close behind. The doors opened and she welcomed the incoming rush of cool air.

They had been on the bus for over thirty minutes. The skies were already starting to get dark as the noise of city life filled the atmosphere.

Aelita looked around. There were plenty of old closely-knit buildings towering above her. Across the street was a plethora of tiny boutiques. People were hustling about and occasionally, some passers-by would take notice of her distinct bright pink hair.

She didn't notice that Bryan had already started walking. He stopped and turned around to find his friend taking in the view and smiled.

"We'll come earlier next time," he said.

Right. Aelita caught up with him; her mind going back to the real reason she was here.

The SubDigitals studio was right under a tall office complex that wasn't that far from the bus stop, and they arrived with five minutes to spare. The front window had a panoramic image of the band performing in one of their concerts. In addition, there was a bunch of albums arranged in towering stacks of various heights. There was also a piece of paper taped to the window, with big letters scrawled in black ink: 'U GUYS ROCK', and right below: 'MARRY ME CHRIS'.

"Here we are."

"Thanks Bryan."

"Anytime. You're done by seven?" She nodded.

"Perfect. I'll be here waiting for you then. I'd better hear some awesome tunes when I return."

Aelita laughed. "And I'd better not see paint all over your clothes."

"How'd you know the kids and I were painting today?"

"What can I say? I'm psychic," Aelita shrugged.

"Bet you can't guess what number from one to ten I'm thinking of."

"And if I can?"

"I'll treat you to dinner tonight."

"Okay. Five."

Bryan grinned and shook his head.

"Well?" Aelita wasn't sure whether she had gotten it. Statistically speaking, she had a one in ten chance of guessing right, provided that Bryan didn't cheat.

"You should go in now. See you at seven," said Bryan as he turned around and headed back to the bus stop.

Aelita took a big breath and began feeling nervous. _What if I'm not good enough? What if I make a mistake? I don't think I'm ready for this_, she thought. Her mind then sprang back to what Jeremie said.

_"Good luck and have fun. This is the opportunity you've always wanted, right? You'd make Mozart jealous."_

It was definitely one of his more humorous moments; corny but humorous. And it gave her confidence. She headed inside, where the sound of music greeted her with open arms.

* * *

><p><strong>BRYAN<strong>

Bryan arrived fashionably late. He always did.

It was 7:01. That one minute was because the kids had latched onto his legs, not wanting him to go despite their parents returning home. He didn't get any paint on him though. As it turns out, he took the two toddlers to the park instead, as the frigid weather would soon remove this activity from a babysitter's list of fun.

"Hey you. How was rehearsal?" he asked when Aelita came outside to meet him.

"It was great. By the way, you have leaves in your hair," she grinned.

"Eh?" _Maybe that's why people were looking at me. I should've brought my Maple Leafs cap..._

Aelita reached to pluck out the yellowish leaves from Bryan's blue hair, her arms brushing his in the process.

"Thanks," said Bryan as they started walking in the opposite direction of the bus stop.

"Hey, where are we going?"

"It's a surprise. You'll see. But…a promise is a promise," he added with a smile, which earned him a playful punch from Aelita. You could never get a straight answer from him.

They walked on for several minutes, before stopping in front of a small Vietnamese restaurant at the corner of the street.

"You hungry?"

"A little. Wait…does this mean–"

"After you then," said Bryan as he held the door open for her.

It was a small cozy restaurant, with no more than fifteen round tables, with the kitchen situated at the back.

"Hello again, Mr. Green!" came a booming voice from an elderly man dressed in a simple t-shirt and jeans. Apparently, Bryan was familiar with this eatery.

"Hello Charles."

"And I see you've brought a little lady friend this time," the man named Charles added with a wink, giving a slight bow to Aelita, who blushed a little.

"Uh…no…she's just one of my friends from school."

"Ah. That's how they all start out though eh, Mr. Green? Anyways right this way."

Charles led them to a small table near the back and gave each of them a single-paged menu. He winked again and headed into the kitchen.

"You've been here before?" Aelita said casually.

"A couple of times before heading to Kadic. I arrived a little earlier than expected so I explored downtown Paris for a bit and stumbled upon this place. Turns out the manager – Charles – also knew my dad quite well.

"Really?"

Bryan nodded. "He's been in charge of this restaurant for over forty years. And my dad often came here after work since it was close to where he was staying."

"I see. So, anything you'd recommend?" asked Aelita as she looked down at the menu, which was covered with images of large bowls of noodles and rice. She flipped her menu to find smaller dishes, desserts and drinks.

Aelita never had Vietnamese cuisine before. In terms of Asian gastronomies, she only had tried Japanese, once, at Yumi's place. She rarely ever left Kadic and whenever she did, dinner would typically be at either a pub or a fast food restaurant.

"I usually get this one," he directed her to a noodle dish. "It's their specialty and it's got a bit of everything."

"Okay, I'll take your word for it."

"Great," said Bryan as he flagged down a waitress to take their order.

"I guessed right the right number then?"

Bryan's eyes twinkled. "Indeed you did. So, tonight's meal is on me."

"Thanks. But I didn't know you were actually being serious."

"Well, I was kind of worried it would be really late by the time we get back to school and Odd would've eaten up all the food."

Aelita laughed. "So, tell me about the kids you take care of."

"Sure. They're twins, four years old and good..._really _good. A bit too energetic at times, but I've never had any trouble with them. How was rehearsal?"

She told him what had happened back at the studio, how she started mixing songs and even getting some advice for the upcoming school dance. On the other hand, Bryan told her that despite stepping into fecal matter, all of the swings being taken and having a massive leaf war, it was just another walk in the park for him.

* * *

><p><strong>AELITA<strong>

Their meals arrived within fifteen minutes. Aelita looked curiously at the large bowl that had been set in front of her, a steaming medley of rice noodles with thin slices of meat, tofu and fresh vegetables in a reddish soup base. And it smelled amazing. Saliva began to accumulate in her mouth.

"Well, give it a try!"

Aelita dipped her spoon into the bowl, brought it up to her lips and took a small sip. It was unlike anything she had ever tasted. The soup was full of flavour, with just the right amount of saltiness and a pinch of spice that tingled her senses.

"It's…delicious," she said as she used her chopsticks to pick up strings of white translucent noodles. Bryan chuckled as he dug in as well. The two ate contentedly in silence for a while.

Charles stopped by and asked whether everything was alright; to which Aelita beamed and replied that it was really – for lack of a better word – yummy. That elicited a large smile from the manager, who gave her a twenty percent discount VIP card.

He also spoke with Bryan about how things were back in Canada and how he was faring at Kadic. However, it wasn't long before more hungry customers came in and so, with a small bow, Charles left the two to finish their dinner.

Aelita suddenly remembered something that Bryan had said during their first encounter on LYOKO.

"Bryan?"

"Mmm?" Bryan looked up with a mouthful of noodles.

"The first time we were on LYOKO together, you called me by another name…Schaeffer?"

He finished chewing and nodded. "Yeah, that's your surname."

"Isn't it Hopper?" Aelita asked, perplexed.

"Right. Hopper…I think that was your mother's last name."

Aelita froze. _Mother_.

Around her, the restaurant was getting packed with people coming in for a hot tasty meal after a long week of school or work. Servers were running around with large steaming dishes and yet, none of that fazed her in the slightest.

"My…my mom? Do you – you know her?" This was it. Aelita's heart was beating rapidly and her hands were getting clammy. He knew all this time and he never told her?

Then again, she never asked. She assumed that since Bryan didn't know how she and her father ended up on LYOKO, he wouldn't know anything else about her family.

"Not in person. Uh…do you…remember her name?"

Aelita shook her head sadly. More missing memories.

"I – I don't know anything. There was nothing in my old home or on the supercomputer," she said, looking down at the white plastic table cover. She didn't feel as hungry anymore.

Bryan truly felt sorry for her, but he didn't know what to say or do. He most certainly couldn't say 'I understand' or any of that reassurance nonsense, because he simply didn't understand her pain. He knew what had happened to his parents. On the other hand, Aelita was uncertain of her mother's very existence.

_But then, why were these specific recollections removed? Unless_…

He tried to cheer his friend up. "Well, for starters…she looked a lot like you," he said truthfully.

That seemed to lighten her mood. "R–really?"

Bryan smiled. It was working. "Anthea Hopper. She had pink hair…just like you. And from what I've seen, she was always smiling; always happy. Especially–" Bryan pulled out his laptop from his backpack. He logged in and browsed through his documents before opening a JPEG file: ws_ppics_xmas89. He turned the screen around so Aelita could see.

"–with you around," he finished.

The image was of a much younger Aelita, hugging what must be her mother – Anthea Hopper. It must have been Christmas. She was adorable in a cute red dress with pink trimmings. And in her hands, was a medium-sized present with bright magenta gift wrap and a shiny green bow on top.

Tears started welling up in Aelita's eyes. And it wasn't because there were raw onions lying nearby.

She placed her hand just over the screen – over her mother's cheek. And for a second, she could almost feel the soft, smooth pearly white skin.

A picture was indeed worth a thousand words. And this one was priceless. To be presented with proof of her mother…it was so surreal.

"Bryan. I – this is amazing."

He grinned. "You looked real cute back then. I mean – in the professional sense, of course. And, not that you don't look cute anymore, that is," Bryan quickly added.

Aelita cupped her mouth with one hand and giggled, looking down at the computer screen once more – just to make sure the picture was real.

"How did you get this?"

"That's one of the photos your dad sent to my dad."

"And you don't know what happened to my mom?"

Bryan shook his head. "Sorry, the only thing I have is this photograph. But I think there should be more details stored in Sector 5."

Aelita nodded. "Perhaps they're in the folders that required access codes, like the ones we found today."

"Probably. The reason why I wanted to get those files was because they're the missing half."

"Huh?"

"I only had half of the files my father left behind for me…guess it was for security purposes in case mines were compromised. The other half was in Sector 5."

"And now they're in…Jeremie's hands."

* * *

><p><strong>JEREMIE<strong>

The Senior Robotics Club wasn't all that bad.

Although it was another typical meet and greet session, it was great conversing with the upper-year students about automation and general engineering principles. A good portion of the meeting was on programming and its effectiveness and efficiency within society.

In addition, Jeremie was interested in hearing about different career plans, and how being a member of an organization such as this one was an asset in future endeavours.

Nevertheless, it wasn't the same without Aelita. Who was out with _Bryan_, of all people.

Not that Jeremie was afraid of those two sharing something more than basic companionship. Surely Aelita was still his partner; Ulrich, Odd and even Yumi talked about it all the time. And although he kept telling them to shut up about that matter, he actually appreciated their reassurances.

There was nothing to worry about.

Jeremie turned on his desktop and inserted his memory stick, copying over its contents onto his hard drive. He scrolled down to one of the folders that caught his attention back at the factory. The folder was quite old, having last been modified back in the late 1970's. But it was the name of the folder that intrigued him the most:

_NATO Executive Order X – ANAA_.

* * *

><p><strong>BRYAN<strong>

The bus headed away from Kadic / College Station, after dropping off Aelita, Bryan and several other students returning from an evening of fun. When the two reached the boys' dormitories on the second floor, Aelita turned around.

"Thanks for taking me to practice, I had a really good time," she said politely.

"Same here. Would you like to do the same next week?

Aelita's eyes widened. "Can we?"

"Why not? I've got to babysit two toddlers and you've got rehearsals. Not to mention you'll need someone amazingly brilliant like me to navigate you through downtown Paris," Bryan added as an afterthought.

"Shush, you," she smacked Bryan's shoulder. It was becoming a recurring gesture.

"Ow. Anyways, sounds good?" Aelita nodded.

"Yes. That would be nice. But I'll pay next time."

Bryan chuckled. "If you insist. Goodnight Aelita."

He headed into the hallway when he heard someone calling his name. He turned around to see Aelita approaching him timidly.

"Huh?"

She placed her hands on his shoulders, leaned in and brushed her lips against the side of his cheek.

"Thanks again. For tonight," she whispered into Bryan's ear.

"No problem. But why the kiss?"

She looked flustered. "I – I thought friends did that after a night out together. I saw it on TV once."

"…I see."

After bidding her goodnight once more, he touched the spot where Aelita had kissed him and smiled.

_Jeremie must be one lucky guy to have her as his girlfriend_…

* * *

><p><strong>Fragmented Legacy Fun Fact 010:<strong>

At some point in this story, every main character will break the fourth wall (some more than once), for good old-fashioned comedic relief.

* * *

><p><strong>A|N's:<strong>

This is also going to be as fluffy-corny-mushy as this story's going to get – partly because I'm quite bad in the relationships department =P. But never fear Aelita x Jeremie fans. Guess who ends up going out with the Princess? (hint: it's not Odd, Bryan or Haley Joel Osment)

Feel free to leave a comment, and as always, thanks for reading Code LYOKO: Fragmented Legacies =)


	11. Artificial Agents and Adept Advisors

**11: Artificial Agents and Adept Advisors**

* * *

><p><strong>YUMI<strong>

Yumi never slept in – even on weekends. It was as if her internal biological clock forbade her from snoozing past seven thirty in the morning. She headed downstairs to find her mother already sitting at the dining room table, with a cup of green tea in her hands and working on the daily crossword puzzle.

Mrs. Ishiyama was the epitome of the phrase 'the early bird gets the worm'. She was always up before everyone else, either preparing meals or out for a jog. And her physical appearance reflected her lifestyle; despite being in her mid-forties, she still had the look of a young woman.

"Good morning Yumi. I wasn't expecting you to be up so soon after yesterday's long trip."

"Oh, I don't really feel that tired."

"That's fine. I have today's paper for you right here. Just give a minute to get your breakfast ready."

Yumi took out the daily Sudoku and skimmed over the other contents. There wasn't anything of interest. Most of it was regarding the upcoming presidential elections and more controversy over Zinedine Zidane's headbutt at the FIFA World Cup. Her mother returned with a bowl of rice, miso soup and a small tofu and fish dish.

"_Itadakimasu_"

"You're welcome."

Yumi picked up her soup with both hands, blowing gently over the surface. Miso soup always seemed to soothe her. She took a sip and found that it was still quite hot and not too watery or salty. Just right.

"Mom?"

"Mother," Mrs. Ishiyama corrected, insistent on maintaining formalities.

"Sorry. Mother?"

"Yes?"

"Are you busy today?"

"Not really. I was going to grocery shopping after dropping off Hiroki at John's house in the afternoon – that is if he ever gets up."

"Told you buying that new PSP for him was a bad idea."

Mrs. Ishiyama chuckled. "Oh come on. It was his birthday, he was getting good grades and I haven't been receiving as many calls from the principal on his deviant behaviour. I still don't know what influenced him to pull those cheap tricks."

Yumi had a fleeting idea in her head that undoubtedly included Odd.

"Anyways, I'm free for the morning."

"Okay. I was…wondering if you could–" Yumi struggled, feeling uncomfortable in asking for help. While she wasn't as fiercely independent as Jeremie, she still preferred to resolve things on her own. But even she knew that it was best to seek parental guidance on mapping her future; since they have already faced a similar situation in their lives.

The university and colleges fair had been insightful. Yumi obtained some information regarding scholarships, residence, etc., and attended all of the presentations from the schools she showed interest in. Still, she felt slightly uneasy. After all, this was a long-term commitment educationally and financially. And she didn't want to mess up.

"–could you go over some university stuff with me?" There. She said it.

Her mother was surprised. Unlike with Hiroki, she rarely had to keep an eye on her oldest child, who liked to handle things by herself. And she never had a problem with that in all these years. Yumi's teachers praised her academic record, and it seemed that she was becoming more social as well, as she started hanging out with a group of friends.

Mrs. Ishiyama smiled. "Of course. How about after you finish your breakfast? I'll go wake your father. I'm sure he'll have some advice to give as well.

"Sure, that'd be great."

"And Yumi. I know you like to work things out on your own, but if you ever need anything, don't hesitate and let us know. We'll always be there for you."

As Mrs. Ishiyama left the dining room once again, Yumi mumbled a soft 'thank you'. She knew that she could always count on her parents, but hearing her mother actually say that made her smile.

* * *

><p><strong>ULRICH<strong>

Chemistry labs were fun; save for the occasional explosion or leakage of corrosive acid. On the other hand, lab write-ups were not fun, especially on a Saturday morning.

Odd and Ulrich were once again huddled in front of one of the library's computers. They had completed most of the analysis parts the previous day, and were hoping to have their report printed off by lunchtime. There were better things to do on weekends.

Like reading, which was quickly becoming Ulrich's favourite pastime as the chilly weather outside made football less appealing. Of course, he wasn't perusing over the works of Orwell, Tolkien or even Margaret Atwood; but more along the lines of Misashi Kishimoto's manga _Naruto_

Ulrich had become drawn into the wonderful ancient world of ninjas, epic clashes between good and evil and giant talking frogs. Yumi had lent him the first ten volumes of the series. His favourite character by far, was Sasuke Uchiha, for being the quiet-yet-totally-badass type.

However, homework still proved to be the most time-consuming activity of the week, and Ulrich felt as if he never had the time to do anything else.

Fortunately, the chemistry lab was essentially the only thing he had to hand in next week. And so Ulrich looking forward to a great day of reading. He was curious as to what was underneath Kakashi's mask…

"What was the final pH of the solution? Eight?"

Odd's voice snapped Ulrich's train of thought. "Huh?"

"The final pH for the last experiment was eight, right?" his friend repeated.

Ulrich looked down at his lab notes.

"Er…actually, it's eight and a half, so that makes it a weak base."

"Yessiree boss," Odd replied happily as he typed in their results. "Alright. Onto the next part…aww man."

"Oh come on, it's just the conclusion. And then we're done."

"Just the conclusion? Ulrich, it's the longest and boringest part. First we have to summarize our findings, then discuss errors and deficiencies. Plus we have to answer some textbook questions."

"We should get started then."

"I liked it better when we just filled an entire page with random stuff as our conclusion and handed that in."

Ulrich chuckled. "Odd, you know Mrs. Hertz expects more from us this year. Random b.s. isn't going to cut it. And the errors are more or less the same for all labs."

"Guess you're right. We could say something along the lines of 'human measurement error resulted in either a slightly more acidic or basic solution'…and stuff like that."

"Sounds good," said Ulrich as he flipped through the pages of his chemistry textbook for the lab questions.

* * *

><p><strong>ODD<strong>

"So, moving a bit off topic…"

"Can we not?"

Odd ignored him. "Halloween is coming up in two weeks."

"Yep," Ulrich replied while scanning the table of contents.

"You know, it's a good thing Principal Delmas is allowing us to get dressed up this year. Makes it more festive," added Odd.

"Yep."

"Apparently there's going to be a prize this year for the best costume."

"Yep."

"And then there's that dance at night in which Aelita's the DJ for."

"Yep."

"So…you planning to ask Yumi out to the Halloween dance?"

"Yep," said Ulrich as he finally found the page he was searching for. He looked up to see Odd with a goofy expression on his face, before realizing what had just happened.

"Wait. No. Uh–"

"Relax, I'm just kidding around."

"I dunno." he mumbled. "I mean, it's just a Halloween dance. It isn't like, prom or anything. There's no walking up to the girl's house and fancy formal stuff like that. It's more like a fun get-together type of event. And Aelita's performing, so all the more reason to go and support her."

"Fair enough. But, you know she likes you right?"

"Aelita?"

Odd smacked his head. "No, Yumi."

"What? No. We're just good friends."

"Uh-huh." Odd remained sceptical.

"Really. There's nothing going on between us." Clearly, the discussion was moving from one type of chemistry to another.

"Ulrich, I'm not sure if you've noticed it or not–"

"Can we just get back to the lab? It's almost ten thirty."

"Alright. But just to let you know…Yumi likes you for being you."

* * *

><p><strong>JEREMIE<strong>

"Morning Jeremie," said Aelita as she walked into her friend's room. To her left was a poster of the great theoretical physicist Albert Einstein, above a bed with unkempt sheets scattered about. A small closet, wooden drawer and a bookshelf stacked with textbooks and scholarly journals occupied the opposite side. There was also a small table near the window that was largely occupied by a wide computer monitor.

"Morning," her friend replied cheerfully as he closed the door behind her.

"So, how was the robotics club?"

"It wasn't all that bad. Got to know a couple of senior students and talked a bit about programming applications.

"See?" Aelita nudged her friend "Told you it'd be worth your while."

"Fine. You were right. How was your SubDigitals rehearsal? I thought it ended at seven thirty? I didn't see you at the cafeteria last night. "

"It does. And it was great meeting and practicing with the band. I even got to listen to a demo of one of their upcoming songs, and it sounds pretty amazing. Then Bryan took me out to this really good Vietnamese restaurant, so that's why I came back late," she responded animatedly.

The smile on Jeremie's face started to fade. It sounded like those two were…

"And he said we could do this every week–"

Double whammy.

"But I'd be paying next time. So, what did you want to show me?" asked Aelita, still smiling.

"Well…you know the files we got from Sector 5 yesterday?" he said as he headed towards his desk.

"Mhmm. Bryan said that they were the missing half of what he had–"

"What?"

"It turns out his father left behind some documents to Project CARTHAGE, which were separated as some security protocol. So he's only got half of them; we retrieved the other half yesterday."

_Hmm, this is interesting. So that's how he knew about the supercomputer_.

"He even showed me a – a picture of my mother. She's…"

"Did he tell you what happened to her?" the boy inquired, to which Aelita shook her head.

Jeremie was slightly disheartened. He wanted to be the one to break the news and impress Aelita with what he had read up last night, including new details on the supercomputer's origins and evidence that her mother – Anthea Hopper was alive somewhere.

"Bet he didn't tell you what XANA stood for," he said with a hint of hope.

Aelita looked curious. "No, are you implying that…XANA is actually an abbreviation?"

Jeremie nodded, feeling better now that he still had some tidbits of information to divulge as he logged on to his computer.

Out of the corner of his eye, he could see Aelita leaning in with interest. Her shoulder was almost touching his. Jeremie tried his best to disregard the churning sensation in his stomach and kept his eyes on the computer screen.

He opened one of the documents. The large, bolded title said it all.

_NATO Executive Order X – ANAA._

And right underneath it in smaller letters:

"_Artificial NATO AntiSoviet Agent_." the boy stated.

"Hmm, I guess that…kind of makes sense. Bryan did mention that XANA started out as a program to disrupt Soviet attacks. And the 'X' –"

"– the Roman numeral for ten. NATO's tenth executive order."

Jeremie scrolled down and continued. "The first couple of pages give a general gist of things. It basically covers what Bryan said already; that the goal of this project was to design a system that could eradicate threats from the Soviet Union. There wasn't much about LYOKO itself though…"

"Well, my father never intended to create LYOKO. That was more of a side project, so it wouldn't be on the official Project CARTHAGE records."

"True. Anyways, I also wanted to show you several images." The first photograph was dated in 1974 and showed roughly twenty individuals.

"Are those the people involved with Project CARTHAGE?" asked Aelita.

"I believe so. And look who's in the middle."

It was unmistakably Aelita's father. He was wearing a lab coat and grey shades. To either side of him were two younger individuals – one male and one female – also wearing lab coats, looking quite pleased with themselves. And behind them were a bunch of casually-dressed personnel.

"The caption says that the man to the left is Dr. A. Green – Bryan's father. And the woman on the right is Dr. G. Peterson."

"What about the others?"

"Administration and office workers."

"Wait, would it be possible to find out if any of them are still around nowadays?"

"Probably not. Bryan said that it was only the three scientists that actually worked on developing the supercomputer at the abandoned factory. Plus, since they were all working on such a confidential project for NATO, it's very likely they've been reintegrated into society under different aliases, making it nearly impossible to track them down."

Aelita nodded. "To protect themselves and the secrets of the operation."

"We know that your father is somewhere within the DigitalSea, but we're not entirely sure how he got there. And Dr. Green is – unfortunately deceased. What I'm most interested in, is what became of Dr. Peterson. She was the other associate of Franz Hopper. If she's still alive we were able to find her, then she would definitely–"

"– know what happened to Project CARTHAGE. And possibly how to rescue my father and stop XANA as well," finished Aelita.

"Exactly my point. Something's bothering me though."

Aelita's eyes darted from the computer screen to a frowning Jeremie. "What's that?"

"Bryan said there were only three WayTowers created to allow the three scientists and their children into LYOKO. Do you think that Dr. Peterson ever had a child?"

* * *

><p><strong>AELITA<strong>

"Maybe. But then, that means that they also have a prefabricated LYOKO avatar, just like Bryan and me."

"And it'll probably be a generically powerful one as well. I mean, Bryan could take apart XANA's forces on his first try. Imagine the three of you guys together. XANA wouldn't stand a chance. Bryan said you're the most powerful LYOKO warrior."

"Well, I don't know about that," Aelita shrugged. She looked down at her hands. Elemental manipulation: earth, wind, fire, water. And when combined, form energy. She had yet to try out her newfound fire or water abilities, of which the latter Bryan had suggested to avoid using.

"Don't you find it odd that Bryan said he came over to Kadic apparently to free you from the supercomputer. But he said that he wasn't any good in programming."

"Umm…okay?"

"I mean, it took me several months to compile Code: EARTH. I'm not sure how he could've gotten you out of LYOKO in the first place without any aptitude in writing scripts.

"Are you trying to imply something?"

"To me, it seems like he has some other…ulterior motive for being here."

"And he does," said Aelita forcefully. She had no idea why she suddenly snapped back, standing up for someone she had just met recently. "He – he also wants to stop XANA from achieving its objectives. Just like the rest of us."

Jeremie was taken aback. "Sorry, I didn't mean–"

The girl shook her head, feeling ashamed of raising her voice. "No, it's…it's not your fault. I know he's holding something back from the rest of us. He even said so himself. But…I just trust him."

"As do I. After all, he's proven instrumental in our fight against XANA."

Aelita nodded. "I just wish we knew the entire picture though. Every time we uncover more about the supercomputer, more questions pop up as well."

"Yeah. But I'm sure we'll get to the bottom of it eventually," said Jeremie, which earned a weak smile from his friend.

"Speaking of pictures, there's one more thing I want you to see," he added as he scrolled down to the last page. It was another scanned photograph. Only this time, there were only two people in it.

Aelita recognized them immediately. "Mom and dad," she whispered. Both of her parents were smiling and standing in front of a snow-covered building that looked vaguely familiar…

"You're in the picture as well," said Jeremie, grinning.

His friend looked confused for a moment, before noticing that her mother had a hand over her very round tummy, which was sticking out of her parka.

"Well, that's about it. But I'm sure there's more in Sector 5."

Aelita slowly nodded. "Yes. We definitely have to go back to CARTHAGE," she said, still staring at another proof of existence of her mother. Her parents looked content and peaceful. If only she knew what had caused her family to completely fall apart…

* * *

><p><strong>BRYAN<strong>

_Freedom is the freedom to say that two plus two make four. If that is granted, all else follows._

Bryan put his copy of Nineteen Eighty–Four down and looked out the window. It didn't look like that bad outside, but he simply didn't feel like leaving his room.

His phone suddenly began to vibrate. Bryan frowned. Who would be calling him? He took his feet off his desk and reached for his mobile device.

"Hel–"

"_Why the bloody hell have you not called for over a month?_" yelled a girl's voice from the other end.

Bryan held the phone several decimetres away from his ear and laughed nervously, rubbing the back of his head. _At least it wasn't a telemarketer_

"Heh. My bad, I – I kinda forgot," he said sheepishly.

"_You forgot? God dammit Bryan. Do you know how…how–_" the other end cursed, before lowering her voice down. "– worried I was? I miss you, you know. You could've at least sent out an email or called me every now and then. I thought that – that you…"

The boy instantly felt a pang of guilt. He knew he had forgotten something very important. "Yeah, I know. I'm really, really sorry Val. But I got to Kadic safely. A…a lot has happened this past month. And you know me. I've got the worst short-term memory in the world," he said.

He heard a sniffle and what sounded like a light giggle from the other end. "Yeah well, that's good to hear. Just – just make sure you don't forget this time. Write it down or something."

"Gotcha," he replied as he wrote a note his agenda.

"Anyways, how are you doing Bri?"

"Not too bad. School's not too difficult and I made a couple of new friends. Guess what I'm reading in English class."

"Hmm…is it something by Shakespeare?"

"No."

"Is it boring?"

Bryan laughed. "Umm…no."

"I meant for sensible and sane people."

"Ouch Val, that was kind of harsh."

"Sorry. You know I hate English."

"You're not skipping again, are you?"

"No. I'm being a 'good girl' like you told me to. I'm staying awake in class, handing in homework on time and to the best of my ability. And I stopped sulking and flipping desks over."

"Splendid. Keep it up," Bryan said as his friend let out a groan.

"Is it something we've read in class last year?"

"…Maybe."

"The Hobbit."

"No."

"Lord of the Rings."

"We didn't read that."

"Yes we did. It was that one with those stranded kids–"

"I think you meant Lord of the Flies."

"Oh, whatever. Is it that?"

"No."

"Then what else…oh…not _that_."

"You got it."

"But – that…oh god, no. Seriously? They make you read that in France as well?"

"It's a pretty good book."

"Sure it is. If you're trying to find a way of curing insomnia."

"It's good for that too. And I always find out things I missed when I re-read a book. For instance, did you know that–"

"Yes I did."

"Don't tell me you're psychic as well."

"Why?"

"Nothing." Bryan proceeded to tell her about his new school life across the Atlantic Ocean, including what happened the day before with another person he perceived to also have telepathic abilities.

"Cool. So you finally found her then," Val said when Bryan had finished his epic of epic epicness.

"Yep," he replied cheerfully.

"What's she like?"

"Yumi? Oh she's–"

"I meant Aelita."

"She's a really fun person to be around. She's also kind of amusing sometimes, since she was stuck in the supercomputer and hadn't caught on to the norms of today's society."

"Is she cute?"

"Well I did have a picture of her when she was little. She was pretty cute."

"And you said there was already a group of _students_ that managed to free her from the supercomputer? So a top-secret complex was infiltrated by a teenage boy who just happened to be wandering around. And he also managed to create a program to materialize Aelita into the real world?"

"Pretty much."

"Bloody hell."

"I couldn't believe it myself. But it certainly saves us some time."

"Yeah. Unbelievable. So they've also been thwarting XANA's plans for over a year?"

"Uh-huh."

"And keeping on top of school as well?"

"Uh-huh."

'They're not human."

"I'm pretty sure they are."

"Anyways…are you still planning to carry out _that_?"

"Have no choice, right? Either I make the first move or eventually, they will. I still don't know enough though. You couldn't dig anything up?"

"Nope. I've been checking more frequently ever since you've left."

"And what about Step–"

"That little bit–"

"Language, Val."

"Sorry, sorry. You know that I hate her with every fibre of my being. And my spirit too for that matter."

Bryan sighed. "Yeah. I know. I do too. Nothing came up on her?"

"Nothing. Do you plan on telling the rest of them?"

"Definitely not. We've already got to deal with one evil obsessed with world domination."

"True. Take things step by step, right?"

"Yep. So, how are you doing these days?"

"Oh, you know, the usual. But it's just not the same without you. I – I mean…yeah."

"Aww, I miss you too Val."

"Well I miss you even more."

"Yeah, you probably do."

"Told you so."

"Alright. I don't want to rack up your long-distance minutes. How about we leave it at this, and I'll call you back some other time?"

"Fine by me. I have to go out soon. Mads needs my help today."

"With what?"

"Baking for a fundraiser."

"So she chose you?"

"Yeah. She's lost it. I'm the one who turns any pastry into a solid black rock."

"Well, you're still better than the guy who didn't know how to prepare cup noodles."

Val laughed. "You'd better call back soon."

"Don't worry, I'll remember this time. Tell my grandparents I'm doing fine."

"Got it."

"And thanks for keeping an eye out."

"No problem."

"You know you're the best person for the job."

"You're much too nice."

"Indeed I am. My kindness literally knows no bounds."

"Riiight. Okay, I'll talk to you later then."

"Yep. Later."

"Bryan?"

"Yes Valerie?"

"Love you."

Bryan paused for a moment. _After all this time_… "I love you too. Be safe, okay?" he said, before hanging up.

* * *

><p><strong>Fragmented Legacy Fun Fact 011:<strong>

Aelita's favourite book is _Alice in Wonderland_.

* * *

><p><strong>A|N's:<strong>

I wanted to do was go into more detail about Project CARTHAGE. This included coming up with what X.A.N.A. stood for, which was difficult since there were so few plausible words in the English language that started with the letter 'X'. But 'X' could very well represent a Roman numeral!

Feel free to leave a comment, and as always, thanks for reading Code LYOKO: Fragmented Legacies =)


	12. The day before tomorrow

**12: The day before tomorrow**

* * *

><p><strong>ULRICH<strong>

_She likes you for being you_.

Ulrich was lying on his bed, his head wrapped around what Odd had said over the weekend.

His friends frequently teased him about Yumi. During his several years at Kadic, Ulrich Stern had attracted much attention from his athleticism. In fact, he nearly became the youngest student to make the football team last spring. He may not have a superior academic record like Jeremie, but the qualities he did possess made him seem… well, _cool_.

The Halloween dance was a day away and he already had three girls approach him.

One was incredibly shy, but took it quite well when Ulrich declined and explained his 'the Halloween dance isn't like prom so dates are pointless' principle.

Then there was Marie Leduc, co-captain of the cheerleading team. Ulrich had to admit that she was absolutely stunning. He was tempted to accept her invitation; however, when he spotted her friends smirking and whispering behind her, he promptly said no and moved on.

Finally, he turned down Sissi – who was still head over heels for him. But the things she did, bullying others just for the heck of it and her sense of superiority was why he ignored her. He despised those traits, and was pleased every time she was reprimanded.

On the other hand, Ulrich liked Yumi. She was a good friend; kind, bright, understanding… Beautiful…

She may not be the happy-go-lucky type like Odd, but she had a strong sense of understanding and sensibility. Yet, she was by no means a goody-two-shoes; she definitely had her limits and never caved in to pressure. Ulrich had done many stupid things to get her attention – the pool incident being a more recent and forgettable one. Or his crazy plan to keep Yumi in France when her parents wanted to move back to Japan due to financial issues.

It seemed as though every time he wanted to express his feelings, things took a turn for the worse. It was as if the Greek goddess of love – Aphrodite – was making it especially difficult for him. Like on Valentine's Day, when he had written a poem for Yumi.

It was a pretty good poem.

However when he saw William with her, he presented it to Sissi instead. _Of all people_…

It went downhill from there. Ulrich didn't know why he did it. Perhaps it was his teenage hormones overriding his sense of morality. Or maybe he wanted to stir some jealousy. In the end, it led to another misunderstanding.

Ulrich really wanted to set things straight with Yumi. He just had to figure out how and wait for the perfect opportunity. But what if she said no, like on That Day?

In addition, Ulrich wasn't sure if he could even be a good boyfriend. What does one do? Always be by his girlfriend's side, hold hands and stuff? Well…he and Yumi have done that…sort of. Snuggle and make out? He had no idea.

Above all, Yumi was graduating this year, which meant that he didn't have much time left to tell her.

To let her know. How he felt.

* * *

><p>The sun was up and there was not a cloud in sight. Odd took one big whiff of the fresh, cool afternoon air. He was finally free of the prison that was classroom 113.<p>

"Ah! Another glorious Monday!" he exclaimed with a wide smile on his face.

Team LYOKO was heading towards the factory following a hiatus of nearly three weeks. In fact, it was the first time since William's conversion to the dark side that all five original LYOKO warriors were on board for the mission.

Jeremie had informed the others of his findings in Sector 5 and expressed his desire to retrieve more data from CARTHAGE's database. So far, he hadn't acquired much information pertaining to the virtual world itself, but rather on the history of NATO's supercomputer project. And he was hoping to get some clues as to permanently removing XANA's link to Aelita.

For Odd and Yumi, it meant that they finally get to try out their new LYOKO forms, that is, if XANA showed up. It had been surprisingly dormant for an evil entity that used to create havoc once a week on average.

"I hate Mondays," Ulrich muttered under his breath. Not sensing the gesture of distaste, Odd grinned and scooted closer to his friend.

"What's that Garfield? I dunno about you, but I LOVE Mondays!"

"The mother of all oxymorons," sighed Bryan. He wasn't quite fond of the first day of the week either. Something bad always happened.

Rather conveniently, Mother Nature decided to support his theory, as he tripped over a tree root, stumbled and fell onto his side. He heard laughter from some of the students nearby and he began laughing as well.

"You alright?" Bryan nodded as he dusted off the leaves and twigs from his clothes.

"Looks like you weren't kidding about Mondays bringing bad luck," Yumi remarked.

"At least it isn't the thirteenth."

"Oh come on, you guys don't really believe in that superstitious nonsense, right?"

"Jeremie, poor Bryan just tripped over a tree root."

"That doesn't prove anything."

"I'd watch out for the stray black cat that roams the forest if I were you," teased Aelita.

"Not you too," groaned Jeremie.

"Speaking of black cats, tomorrow's Halloween. You guys got your costumes all prepped up?" asked Yumi.

Everyone but Jeremie nodded.

"What about you, Einstein?"

"Nope. It's a waste of time and money."

"Guess Jeremie's going as the Scrooge again. That's what he was last Halloween as well. And he didn't take it off 'till Christmas," Odd murmured to Bryan.

After descending down to the remarkably spotless sewers, the LYOKO warriors grabbed their skateboards and scooters while Bryan strapped on his inline skates.

As they set off for the factory, Aelita watched as Bryan glided along effortlessly, occasionally going up along the walls. And at times, it would appear as if he was _flying _over her; while she remained fixed on the ground, her feet unable to break free of its grip.

* * *

><p>"…And virtualization," said Jeremie as he finished sending Odd and Bryan into LYOKO to join the other three.<p>

_That's odd_. At the bottom corner of Bryan's profile was a small number '5'. Had it always been there? He was puzzled. None of the others had this on their avatar displays…

Odd and Yumi were inspecting their new attire. Indeed, Jeremie's designing capabilities nearly matched that of Superhero clothing designer Edna Mode from The Incredibles.

Yumi's outfit had changed from that of a traditional geisha to a sleek, maroon jump suit. In addition, she now had four fans strapped to an X-shaped case on her back. Despite the extra weight of her armament, she felt much lighter and more flexible than before.

**Yumi Ishiyama: now a Kunoichi with a 21st century fashion statement.**

Odd also now sported a full purple jump suit. And going the extra mile, Jeremie added cat ears above his forehead to go along with his tail.

"No offense Jeremie, but aren't you taking this whole cat thing a bit too far?"

"Those ears are to help improve your hearing on LYOKO. And I've also enhanced several more of your other senses as well."

"You can do that?"

"It's not that difficult, though a bit more time consuming. All I had to do essentially was tweak the function–"

Not wanting to listen to a lecture on stuff he knew he wouldn't be able to comprehend anyways: "Got it, anything's possible with technology. No complaints here. Awesome job, Jeremie."

**Odd Della Robia: more Hello Kitty cuteness, less Puss in Boots ferociousness.**

"Thanks Odd. I'm sending you all to Sector 5 now," said Jeremie as he typed in SCIPIO to transport the five LYOKO warriors into CARTHAGE.

* * *

><p>"Wow," Aelita whispered to herself, unable to conceal her excitement. After performing a brief search of the Sector 5 database on the Interface panel, she had found them.<p>

There were plenty of LYOKO files stored under Franz Hopper's private folder, including his diary. Or in a more professional term: his logbook.

To increase efficiency, Jeremie ran his new program that compiled a list of possible passcodes related to the Punic Wars. And within moments, several restricted files were successfully unlocked.

Once again, there was no sign of XANA. Other than a soft humming sound coming from the light-blue streams that outsourced data from inside CARTHAGE to the other sectors of LYOKO, it was relatively quiet.

Too quiet.

As a precaution, Jeremie had provided vehicles for Odd and Yumi to patrol the perimeter, while Aelita, flanked by Bryan and Ulrich prepared to export the documents. Her hands moved rapidly across the touch screen.

"I've compressed the files. They should start uploading on your end at any moment."

"Okay," Jeremie replied as he noticed a bunch of red dots beginning to show up on his screen.

_So XANA finally decided to come out_.

"Guys, Mantas and Creepers are heading your way."

"Yeah, I see them," said Odd.

"We're on it," added Yumi. The two of them left to intercept XANA's air force. Meanwhile, several Creepers had begun scaling the walls up to the walkway.

"I'll take care of them," said Ulrich. He dashed off using his super sprint, leaving a momentary trail of yellow light.

Bryan leapt down to a tiny crevice below. "Aelita, keep watch, okay?"

She looked away from her screen. "What are you doing?"

The boy didn't reply. His eyes were closed shut as three bodies with multiple piercings materialized. Aelita had seen one of them before – the tall, thin man with spiky hair. But the other two were new. One had long, straight hair extending to his torso with a diagonal piercing on his nose. The other body had no hair at all, though he had a thick neck and an eerie smile. Bryan's Deva, Human and Asura Paths.

That makes it five of the six bodies revealed, Jeremie noted. Bryan's life points were down to ninety. It appeared as though three was his magic number; to optimize performance without using up his limited health; perhaps that's why he never summoned all six bodies at once.

The bald man went after Odd and Yumi using the rockets fixed onto his boots, while the other two bodies headed in Ulrich's direction.

"How long is it going to take, Aelita?"

"…Thirteen minutes. Maybe more. These are pretty big files."

"Alright. You guys think you can hold off XANA for that long?"

"Shouldn't be too difficult," Ulrich responded. He brandished his kantana and sliced through the first Creeper in his path, as more stirred below.

"Need some help?" asked Bryan. The boy looked back and found himself face to face with two orange-haired figures with multiple piercings. Ulrich was going to have to get used to this.

"Okay. Take your pick."

"Left."

"Fine by me," said Ulrich as he veered to his side and with one quick move, cut another monster into oblivion. He leapt over the scattered fragments, flung his sword into the chest of another Creeper, before taking out his spare kantana.

Using the Deva Path, Bryan splayed his hand open, emitting an invisible force on the Creepers along the edge of the platform.

The monsters didn't move a millimetre as they fired back. The Deva Path again spread his palms to repel the laser fire.

But they didn't change course. _Guess the five second rule still applies on LYOKO_, thought Bryan.

The Human Path grabbed the other body's waist and tossed him upwards; and the lasers hit and devirtualized it instead.

The spiky-haired body frowned. It appeared as though XANA's monsters had dug their tails into the ground, nullifying his technique.

The Creepers turned their heads upwards. This time, the Deva Path deflected the lasers and managed to take out some of the slimy slugs in the process, as more poured in to take their place.

* * *

><p>Odd and Yumi had come within range of the Mantas. Using his improved sense of vision, Odd locked on to the topside of one of the monsters and:<p>

"Laser Arrow!"

Apparently, Jeremie had also given him an elite sniper firearm. No sooner had he fired his precision projectile was the target hit and eliminated. Odd swerved, before repeating the process on the monster's wing mate.

Two shots fired. Two Mantas down.

"Nice," commented Yumi as she expanded one of her fans to block incoming laser fire, keeping one hand to steer the OverBoard. She went above the remaining Manta and threw her fan downwards at its Eye of XANA. The monster floundered before bursting into scrap parts. However, three more Manta squadrons could be seen in the distance.

"Yumi, do you see what I see?"

The girl looked back to see a bald man closing in on her.

_So Bryan took that Path out. Good choice._

"It's one of Bryan's bodies. Think this one has missiles."

"Cool. But…I was kinda talking about the guy in front of us."

The Manta in the middle was unlike the others. For one thing, it was jet-black instead of the regular navy blue skin. It was also carrying a single passenger on its back.

Captain Cockshaw had arrived.

"You got him?"

"Yep." He aimed and fired two darts at William, who transformed into a dark cloud of smoke and zoomed towards them. The two braced for impact.

But he merely accelerated past them. William momentarily morphed out of his smoke ball form as it came near the Asura Path. Bryan didn't even have a chance to respond as the body was sliced cleanly in two by the Zweihander and vanished.

Smirking, William reverted to his dark cloud state and continued his way to the Interface platform.

The Mantas re-opened fire, making it impossible for Odd and Yumi to turn around and pursue William. Yumi took out another fan and prepared to take down another one of XANA's monsters as Odd attempted to out-manoeuvre the lasers. He was hit once from the oncoming barrage, although he managed to remain on his OverBoard. Shrugging it off, he aimed at the nearest Manta.

Make that three for three.

* * *

><p>XANA had scattered the five LYOKO warriors to various pockets of Sector 5. Evidently, it had been up all night reading Sun Tzu's <em>The Art of War<em>.

"Bryan, behind you!" Aelita called out from above.

The boy snapped his eyes open and made to turn around. But William had already materialized and struck him in the back with a sphere of dark energy. Bryan vanished along with the Deva Path, which left Ulrich surrounded by Creepers.

The girl gasped and instinctively created an energy field in the palm of her hand. She threw it at William, who negated it with his own energy ball. Yet, he had a look of dissatisfaction. And with good reason – a wooden stump had taken the place of where Bryan stood, as he reappeared beside Aelita.

"That was close. Thanks for the heads up."

"Anytime," she replied, relieved that he hadn't been devirtualized. Yet.

"So…he's the one possessed by XANA?"

"Mhmm."

"Right. You finish the file transfer then. I'll take care of this Wilhelm guy."

"William."

"Can I call him Wilhelm? Sounds cooler. I also grant you permission to use your energy fields on him if you get the chance."

Aelita smiled. "Permission much appreciated, Master Jedi."

"Guys, this is no time to fool around," said Jeremie's reprimanding voice as William leapt up to the landing, a few metres away from the two LYOKO warriors. With his usual smug look restored, Captain Cockshaw righted himself and reached behind his back for the gigantic Zweihander.

"Sorry," Aelita apologized, turning her attention back to the computer screen.

"Hmm…" Bryan frowned as he sized up his opponent.

Wilhelm – or William was much too close for him to effectively control the bodies without leaving himself wide open for an attack. That would be bad. Yumi had mentioned that his defensive abilities were his Achilles heel, during Pencak Silat practice. Plus, XANA had already seen some of his abilities and probably figured out how to counter them. On the other hand, Bryan had never faced William, though he was definitely more powerful than XANA's other monsters.

_However… _He pulled out a long black rod from his sleeve, as Jeremie's screen flashed the following message:

BRYAN (HP: 60) VS. WILLIAM (HP: 100)

_Game on_.

* * *

><p>An ancient policy on one-on-one fights states that the bad guys always made the first move. WilliXANA was no exception.<p>

He changed back into its smoke ball form, plunged beneath the surface and went for Bryan, whose ripple-patterned eyes were wide with shock.

_Fast…_ _But he can't attack in that state… _Bryan recalled he had to revert into his physical form to incapacitate one of his bodies. He leapt upwards and the shadowy substance followed him. As it came into contact with Bryan's foot–

William's head began to emerge. Bryan swiftly conjured a pink ball of energy and hurled it at the boy, who was blasted downwards and hit the ground with a thud. However, Bryan's energy field was not a one-hit-wonder like Aelita's. And so, he flung his black rod at William, spearing him on his left thigh. WilliXANA hissed and appeared to be struggling to move.

_Perfect_.

Jeremie was surprised to see that Bryan was…_regaining _life points as William's health meter decreased. But–

"Bryan, stop! You're transferring XANA's data onto yourself."

"Crap!" Not wanting to turn into another XANA puppet, he hurtled downwards, landing beside William. He made to remove his stick from the possessed boy's leg. William – now free to move – pushed Bryan aside and aimed a dark ball of energy at his chest.

_Preta Path_. The sphere was absorbed before Bryan extended his left palm and threw William back several metres. He looked up briefly to see Aelita still in front of the Interface panel. He also noticed something slowly creeping towards her.

"Ael–"

"Watch out for the Scyphozoa!" warned Jeremie. She looked up from the screen and saw the monster of many tentacles. Aelita took a step back and fired a pink energy field at it. Like before, it merely glanced off its body.

Bryan's attention shifted back to William, who was charging at him, sword raised with both hands. Again, Bryan extended his palm outwards and the boy was tossed back and disappeared; revealing the real William was behind him.

_A doppelganger?_

One of Ulrich's kantanas suddenly materialized in his hands as Bryan held it up to avoid being felled by William's sword. His arms started shaking and one of his knees sunk to the ground. He saw the sneer plastered over William's face and could feel himself giving in; the Zweihander was simply too powerful.

Back at the factory, Jeremie grew worried as he watched the battle unfold in front of him. Everyone was involved in their own skirmish. And the Scyphozoa was now moments away from Aelita, while the downloading process was only 83% complete.

"Ulrich?"

"Kind of busy, Jer," Ulrich replied briskly. The Creepers were beginning to overwhelm him with sheer numbers.

"What's up?" asked Yumi. She whirled another fan around but missed the Manta entirely.

"It's the Scyphozoa. Everyone else has their hands full."

"Yeah. Us too. In fact–"

She was unable to complete her sentence, succumbing to a volley of laser fire. Keeping with a Team LYOKO tradition, she was the first to come out of the scanners.

Odd had no time to lament. The Mantas now only had one target – him. He tried to weave around all of them, too occupied to counterattack. And after being struck several more times, he was devirtualized as well.

At the other end, Aelita looked back at the Interface panel. _77 seconds remaining_. All she would have to do was keep the Scyphozoa at bay until then. She tried to harness the power of the Wind. Just like Bryan, she extended her hand outward and focused on her release point.

She felt a sudden invisible force expel from her palm, which sent the Scyphozoa hurtling backwards. However, the monster managed to latch several of its tentacles around the walkway to withstand Aelita's attack. It moved towards her once more, albeit much more slowly.

* * *

><p>Bryan sensed an opening. Letting go of the kantana, he swiftly rolled to his side as the Zweihander came crashing down. He extended his leg outward and slid across, tripping William and causing him to relinquish control of his heavy sword.<p>

He then directed his palm at William. Only this time, the boy was lifted off his feet and hurtled straight at Bryan. With a clear shot, Bryan's left arm morphed into a robotic limb that opened up and fired a small rocket.

_Asura Path_.

William threw a dark ball at the projectile. But the rocket was already too close to him; the energy sphere caused it to detonate over his body as he disappeared behind a cloud of smoke.

Satisfied, Bryan prepared to jump up to aid Aelita when he felt – and looked down in horror – the tip of the Zweihander sticking out in front of his chest. He began to devirtualize as he sensed William smirking behind him.

_Another clone_.

"For XANA!" said William as he raised his sword in victory.

_Transfer complete_.

"And not a moment too soon," Jeremie muttered, before addressing Aelita and Ulrich: "I'm devirtualizing you guys now."

"And not a moment too soon," Ulrich echoed just as he was about to get hit by a barrage of red lasers.

Aelita wasted no time in logging off of the Interface panel, and she got out of Sector 5 before the Scyphozoa or William could get to her.

* * *

><p>Bryan emerged from the scanner with one hand holding onto the wall for support. Unlike his first time on LYOKO, he was panting slightly, feeling weak and completely drained.<p>

"Looks like William got the better of you today," said Yumi, helping him up. She also looked quite exhausted.

"Yeah. Couldn't keep up. He countered everything I threw at him."

"No sweat, Captain B. There's always next time. And now you've got a taste of what he can do."

Bryan chuckled lightly. "True, Odd. Always next time," he murmured as Aelita and Ulrich showed up beside him.

Jeremie finished saving the files onto his USB stick. He leaned back on his chair and let out a long sigh.

XANA had gotten better. And today, it was truly a force to be reckoned with. The virus had isolated the LYOKO warriors and then picked them off one by one. Of course, it was by no means a total defeat. After all, Team LYOKO had achieved what it set out to do. Jeremie had managed to obtain the information he desired.

Nevertheless, he always believed that with Bryan joining the team and his modifications to the avatars it would be smooth sailing in the fight against XANA. But now he realized that he had left out one pivotal aspect.

The ability to adapt.

And XANA adapted brilliantly, leaving the LYOKO warriors scrambling to meet the challenge once again. Even more troubling was that it frequently brought out the Scyphozoa in an effort to take possession of Aelita's memories. His mind drifted back to what Bryan said earlier:

"_You do know what happens when Aelita loses all of her memories, right?_"

He had forgotten to ask Bryan what he meant by this. _What would happen?_

Jeremie felt a gentle tap on his shoulder, breaking his train of thought.

"Hey. Ready to go?" asked Aelita.

"Sure." The boy nodded and got up from his seat to join the others. Not wanting to question Bryan over this while Aelita was around, he put the issue away, pondering instead on whether it was going to be another Mystery Meat Madness Monday at the cafeteria.

* * *

><p><strong>JEREMIE<strong>

"I'll let you know what I find in those files tomorrow," he said to Aelita as the two headed back to their rooms after dinner.

"Sure thing."

The two continued to walk in amiable silence, both unable to strike up any further conversation.

"So…are you done all your homework?" asked Jeremie timidly.

"Most of it. I'm done the functions assignment. All I have to do is proofread and type up my works cited page for my essay. You?"

"Pretty much the same. You know, you can always go on citationmachine, it compiles the reference for you after you provide the details and type of citation you want to use."

"Really, there's a website that does that?"

"Sure. There's even one that can find the material and automatically cite it for you. Beats doing it yourself and making mistakes. You know how strict Mr. Hodgson is when it comes to references."

Aelita nodded in agreement. "Thanks."

"Anytime."

"So…you're really not going tomorrow?"

"Yeah. Sorry…it's just…I don't find these events appealing. And to be fairly honest, dancing's not my strong suit."

"True."

"Gee. Thanks for your moral support," said Jeremie sarcastically.

Aelita giggled as she moved closer alongside him. "Anytime." Jeremie felt his cheeks heat up.

"By the way, what are dressing up as?"

"Not telling, since you're not dressing up at all."

"Darn. What if I said please?"

"Mmm…nope."

"Pretty please?"

Aelita shook her head.

"Can I get the first letter at least?"

She considered it. "Fine. 'K'."

"You're dressing up as a kangaroo?"

"What? Don't be silly!"

"I mean, yes, you did your geography presentation on Australia but – hey – ow!" he exclaimed as his friend playfully poked him in the ribs.

"Okay, okay! You're not a kangaroo. Is it a person?"

"Sort of."

"What do you mean sort of?"

Aelita shrugged. "I don't know. Sort of."

"How many letters?"

"…Fifteen. No more clues. You'll find out tomorrow," she added with a wink as they reached Jeremie's floor.

He sighed. "Alright. See you tomorrow," said Jeremie repeated as he watched Aelita go up another flight of stairs; moving further and further away from him.

* * *

><p><strong>YUMI<strong>

With a look of satisfaction, Yumi took a seat in her office chair. She had finished the final touches to her Halloween costume.

It looked amazing.

All ready for Tuesday's Spirit Day and evening dance. Her smile turned into a slight frown over what transpired last week.

It seemed that Ulrich had picked up a date with Marie for tomorrow. Yumi saw him talking to her as she was coming out of class and instantly turned away and took the long route to the cafeteria. Not prone to displaying weakness or sadness, she tried her best to remain upbeat for the rest of the day; not mentioning one word of what she saw.

Perhaps Ulrich really had moved on.

In Yumi's opinion, Ulrich was more than a good friend. He brought in a sense of calm in situations where others would merely panic. He was brave, willing to take risks to help others. Then there were times when he was a…stubborn idiot. Though this proved frustrating, there were instances when Yumi struggled to fight back a giggle. Sometimes, his foolishness was kind of sweet.

There was less of a restrictive bubble between them. They've held hands, hugged and even sat together half-naked the time XANA looked them inside a boiler room. She didn't feel awkward over such actions that some consider being of a more intimate relationship.

And that's because Yumi trusted Ulrich; her first, true camaraderie. Through the ups and downs, they remained side by side.

Still, a part of her was afraid of progressing further. But times have changed and Yumi wondered whether she could ever find someone like Ulrich – who was great to be around with and respected her for who she was.

For the past couple of months, Yumi promised herself that she would resolve this dilemma. A lot has changed since That Day, when she stated that they were only friends, nothing more.

It was what she said, but did she really mean it?

Above all, she was graduating this year, which meant that she didn't have much time left to tell him.

To let him know. How she felt.

* * *

><p><strong><strong>Fragmented Legacy Fun Fact 012:<strong>**

Team LYOKO's Bryan is spelled with a 'y' instead of an 'i', so I wouldn't misspell his name as 'Brain' .

* * *

><p><strong>A|Ns:<strong>

This chapter brings an end to the first 'season' of CL:FL! I think it's time for me to take a short break; I'll pick this up again within a couple of months.

I'm pretty sure I stress this enough, but I'm really thrilled with the amount of support I've been getting!

Feel free to leave a comment, and as always, thanks for reading Code LYOKO: Fragmented Legacies =)

* * *

><p><strong>Replies to Reviews:<strong>

[**_Soul Jelly_**]  
>First off, I'd like to thank you for your support! Your comments have been very insightful and a pleasure to read. In fact, they have even influenced me to change certain aspects of upcoming chapters! Regarding exciting XANA-combat-action sequences, those will be coming up shortly (I didn't want to have viruses ruining one of the favourite holidays of teenagers). As for the Men In Black…with XANA still up and about, I don't think giving Team LYOKO a second supervillain to deal with is such a good idea. However, MIB will likely make an appearance sometime in Season III (long-term planning, I know =D) and will also possess a cooler name than 'Green Phoenix'. Finally, there's Anthea Hopper. Aelita made it clear in the first chapter that she was going to find out what happened to her family – and that's exactly what she'll do!<p>

[**_Spinzaku_**]  
>LOL! I completely forgot about that line…I'll have to add it in to a future chapter =D Anyways, thank you very much for your reply! Although it is without a doubt that from here on out the story will have a much sombre tone than the more upbeat first season, the endless humour will still carry on!<p>

[_**Small Voice**_]  
>Thanks for your reply! To be honest, I had no idea on how to start Fragmented Legacies, but I knew that it had to be flamboyant and stand out. I wanted to insert that quote from Spiderman: "with great power comes great responsibility" – which is usually how I start all of my essays for school. Even though it didn't mesh in quite well, it got me thinking about superheroes in general and how the job of saving the world isn't as great of a career as it sounds. Everything began to fall in place from there. Sorry you got bored during my attempt to summarize Code Lyoko Seasons 1 to 3…but I needed to restate it all before moving on, since my story takes place later on. That being said, thanks once again for your support =D<p>

[_**Adventurer411**_]  
>RTR number two goes to you! CL:FL is indeed my first fanfic, and is probably the first thing I've ever written for fun and not for academic purposes. An ongoing struggle that I have with writing this story is balancing description with fast-paced, realistic dialogue; so I really appreciate you brining this up. I'm also an avid reader and sometimes, I can't believe how authors manage to convey their imagery through various literary devices that make me feel like I'm actually where the characters are standing. This is one of the things I'm currently looking to improve on. In retrospect, thanks for your comment and for reading Fragmented Legacies! =)<p> 


	13. All Hallows' Eve – Day

**13: All Hallows' Eve - Day**

* * *

><p><em>Memories<em>.

Retained recollections that define oneself. The catalyst in writing effective tests and examinations. Mental proof of the amazing world we live in. The thing that everyone takes with them through the journey of life, until the very end.

_A scattered memory like a far-off dream. A far-off dream like a scattered memory. _

No one can be considered complete without them. And some will go to any lengths to recapture their lost memories, to line up the fragmented pieces. After all, it's one thing to forget about the past. It's a completely different matter when someone – or something – takes it away from you.

* * *

><p><strong>AELITA<strong>

_Aelita opened her eyes and saw a younger version of herself sitting in the living room of the Hermitage, constructing a LEGO house for Mr. Puck._

_"And this is where you'll be sleeping," she said happily to the doll sitting next to her as she finished the interior furnishings of the master bedroom. She then heard the front door open and close and looked up._

_She saw her father come in and rush upstairs without a word. Several minutes later, he came into the living room. Although his opaque spectacles prevented her from reading his facial expression, Aelita could sense that something was out of place._

_Something was wrong._

_"Aelita, we have to go. Now," her father said urgently. The girl looked longingly at her partially completed residential complex, but got up obediently. _

_"Where are we going?"_

_"…Somewhere safe," was Franz Hopper's curt reply. He strode over to the closet and took out her pink windbreaker._

_"Where's mommy?"_

_Dr. Hopper opened his mouth to speak, but no words came out. He jiggled his glasses. _

_"She's…still at work. But she'll meet up with us when she's done." He helped Aelita into her coat, his hands trembling slightly. _

_"Why don't you bring Mr. Puck along?"_

_Aelita broke into a smile, the tense atmosphere pushed back into the recesses of her mind. She reached for her doll and tucked him into her coat pocket. Taking her father's hand, the two headed for the back door of the Hermitage at a brisk pace; she struggled to keep up with her father's footsteps._

_Everything then faded into grey static like a malfunctioning television screen, before a new scene came into focus._

_Now both father and daughter were standing in front of a wooden shed. Franz Hopper unlocked the door and ushered his daughter in before entering himself and quietly closing the door behind him. _

_And then…darkness._

Aelita woke up with a gasp. She could feel the beads of sweat on her forehead. She sat up and placed a hand over her forehead while glancing over to her alarm clock.

It was almost five in the morning. The room was still dark, although Aelita could make out some of her surroundings, including her Halloween costume which was perched atop her sock drawer.

That dream…it felt so real. But she could not be certain; she could not recall what had happened before ending up on LYOKO. Aelita felt around her bed for Mr. Puck. She found it and held the doll closely to her chest. It was her sole remaining possession from her childhood.

Perhaps Bryan knew something about this. She made a mental note to ask him as she closed her eyes once more. Her curiosity turned into irritation – if only she had remained asleep for just a bit longer…

* * *

><p><strong>JEREMIE<strong>

There was nothing better to do on a Tuesday morning than to sit in front of a computer in the library and sift through a massive text file from the 1980's.

Of course, this was according to the biased opinion of Mr. Belpois. The only slight improvement to this current situation would be if he was sitting in front of the computer in his room. However, with Halloween on the horizon, his neighbours were just a tad bit too celebrative and noisy for him to concentrate.

In fact, Jeremie was so focused on reading each and every paragraph thoroughly that he did not notice that someone had crept up behind him.

"Boo!"

Jeremie leapt out of his seat completely bewildered, and tried his best not to scream. Some of the students nearby started laughing at his expense.

_And people ask why I hate Halloween, it's almost as bad as April Fools' Day…_he thought to himself as he turned around, ready to reprimand the masked irritant.

"What do you think you're–" Jeremie stopped in mid-sentence upon seeing who the perpetrator was. He thought he recognized the voice…

"Morning," Aelita replied cheerfully. She was no longer in her pink hoodie and maroon coveralls. Instead, she was wearing a blue shirt under a dark coat with bright pink flames and swirly patterns along with matching pants and boots. And strapped to her back was what looked like a giant key.

**Aelita Stones  
>Dressed as: Keyblade master<br>Status: The main protagonist from CL:FL Season I!**

"Aeli…wow," said Jeremie. It was all he could come up with.

**Jeremie Belpois  
>Dressed as: na  
>Status: Annoyed to amused, all in less than five seconds.<strong>

"Do you like it?" she asked, twirling around so that Jeremie see her outfit from front to back.

He nodded, which made Aelita's smile grow wider. She was slightly more beautiful than usual – if that was even possible. Indeed, some of the other costumed students were stealing glances at her, checking her out. Although Aelita didn't seem to have noticed, this made Jeremie feel uneasy, like he should be protecting her.

"Hey, do you want to go meet up with the others?" he suggested abruptly.

"Sure. I was going to ask you the same thing. You weren't in your room, so I kind of had a feeling you'd be here reading…" Aelita peered over his shoulder.

"That's just the file we retrieved from LYOKO last week," said Jeremie, lowering his voice.

"Anything interesting come up?"

"Well, I didn't get to read it until now because I had to polish off that English essay. But from the abstract, it looks like a reference document, like a journal or something."

"Hmm…I guess it's a start. Maybe it'll tell us how to destroy XANA, or provide some information as to what's happened all these years."

"What do you mean?"

"Well, Project CARTHAGE involved more than just three people right? There were others working on the operation. But…I don't know…it just seems that everything and everyone connected to it vanished without a trace."

Jeremie nodded. "I know what you mean. It's kind of spooky," he added, which made Aelita chuckle.

Nevertheless, Aelita had raised an interesting point – what had happened to those who had been working on Project CARTHAGE? When Jeremie first came across the factory, he was surprised that the complex was still in good condition; it was fully illuminated and none of the rooms were locked. If it really was a top-secret operation, surely at least the front door should have been securely fastened?

* * *

><p><strong>YUMI<strong>

You never ever _ever _make any crazy stupid bets with Odd Della Robbia after two in the morning.

Unfortunately, Yumi Ishiyama learned this the hard way. And as she made her way towards Kadic, she tried to appear calm and collected as usual. But inside her head, she was screaming curses at Odd and felt downright embarrassed.

"Yumi!"

It was Aelita, Jeremie and Ulrich.

"Oh…it really is you. Umm…nice costume," muttered Jeremie, who was quite surprised. A schoolgirl – albeit of the Japanese variety – was the last thing he expected Yumi to dress up as. She was in a seifuku consisting of a white blouse and blue tie, dark blue skirt and black stockings.

**Yumi Ishiyama  
>Dressed as: Schoolgirl<br>Status: Wishing that this was all a dream. It wasn't.**

On the other hand, Ulrich had suited up as Britain's most prominent triple-digit superspy. He took one look at Yumi and quickly turned his head down, suddenly appreciating how green the grass was.

**Ulrich Stern  
>Dressed as: Bond. James Bond.<br>Status: Unarmed (school policy).**

While he wanted to say that Yumi looked nice…even _cute_, such comment would surely earn him a kick to the groin. And besides, 007 would never make such a dumbfounded uncool statement like that. So instead:

"I take it you lost to one of Mr. Della Robbia's infamous bets, then?" said Ulrich with an accent that came off as more of a pompous high-pitched articulation. Yumi chortled at his attempt at a British accent that sounded more Scottish.

"Yeah, you might say that. At least he paid for all of this."

"Well, I think you look absolutely gorgeous," said Aelita with a grin.

_Always count on Aelita to brighten your day;_ Yumi felt her insides loosen up. It was only fifteen more hours. Perhaps she can get through the day without losing face.

Bryan arrived next, and he looked like some sort of anime character. He was wearing his roller skates, which now featured bright streaks of paint, and also sported goggles around his neck. His blue hair was spikier and stuck out from a new cap that was full of many colourful pins.

**Bryan Green  
>Dressed as: Sora Takeuchi (who?)<br>Status: Still Canadian. **

"Nice," said Ulrich approvingly. Aelita smiled.

"Thanks. I was thinking of leaving out the skates, but I decided against it. It's not against school policy, is it?"

"Not that I know of. And you wouldn't be Sora without them," Yumi nodded.

"Who?"

"Skater in Air Gear."

"Manga, right?" Jeremie asked. Bryan nodded.

"Wait…we're missing someone."

"Oh, right. Wait 'til you see what Odd's dressed up as," said Ulrich.

"Can't be worse than last year…" Aelita sighed.

"Ah yes. The year Odd chose to dress up as Barney the Dinosaur."

"I mean, it wasn't all that bad, until he started singing and giving big hugs."

"Remember Heidi?"

Even Jeremie couldn't resist laughing. "That most certainly did not go as planned."

"Nothing like having ice poured down your neck."

"Then there were those first-years…"

"Who chased him around the school," added Yumi.

"It was quite amusing to see a purple dinosaur waddling away from children."

"Could've let it go on a bit longer before intervening of course."

"Yeah, but the several pictures we took were sufficient enough."

"Wait, that's him right?" Bryan pointed to the person on top of a bench, waving his arms at female onlookers.

Yumi took a quick glance before turning back to the group. "Well, nothing to see here. We should probably just go someplace el–" she stopped upon feeling a hand on her shoulder and found herself face to face with Odd, who flashed her a thumbs up and blew her a kiss. Her expression was livid.

Odd was in a black and white-striped outfit with black suspenders. His hands and face were chalk-white, with some rouge on his cheeks and a bowler hat on top.

**Odd Della Robbia  
>Dressed as: Mr. Mime (not the Pokemon)<br>Status: Mum.**

"You've…got to be kidding me," said Jeremie.

"Hey, at least there'll be no one to annoy us today," remarked Ulrich contentedly. Odd rolled his eyes and started making hand gestures.

Bryan nudged Aelita. "What's he trying to say?"

Aelita watched as Odd pointed to her then back to his mouth. "Uh…I think he's saying that we…taste good?"

Odd shook his head.

"You have a mouth-ache from not talking for fifteen minutes?" suggested Jeremie. Ulrich snickered.

Indeed, Team LYOKO was never adept in charades. Nor had they grasped the concept of visual communication as Odd shook his head again. He pointed to his belly.

"Okay…your stomach."

Odd nodded and opened his mouth while pointing to the school.

"You…threw up inside the school this morning? Was it in front of spectre-William?"

Odd formed a pistol with his hand and fired two rounds at Ulrich.

"Come to think of it. Have any of you guys eaten yet?" asked Yumi.

Everyone shook their heads.

"Alright then, that's settled. Odd, you can tell…er – act out what you're trying to say once we're there."

The mime-for-a-day could almost feel a large sweatdrop falling from the side of his head.

* * *

><p><strong>BRYAN<strong>

Halloween on a school day was by no means a festivity wasted.

Although it wasn't a statutory holiday, it did provide a temporary relapse for students. Most teachers would set aside time for fun activities, a little break from two months of hard work and intense pencil-to-paper coordination. In addition, Kadic's student council had put on quite a pleasant change in scenery, with walls laced with black and orange streamers and spider webs. The lights along some of the windowless hallways had been replaced with glowing jack-o-lanterns and tiny white ghosts were hanging down from the ceilings.

It was a day off in English class, as Mr. Hodgson put on The Nightmare Before Christmas. No one enjoyed it as much as Aelita, who apart from being a big fan of animated films, had previously encountered the mild-mannered Jack Skellington when she was playing Kingdom Hearts II with Odd.

At lunch, Team LYOKO went their separate ways after submitting their votes for the best costumes. Jeremie had decided that there was nothing better to do on a Tuesday lunch break than to sit in front of a computer in the school library and sift through a massive text file from the 1980's. Indeed, it was a pretty intriguing file. Ulrich and Yumi went to visit Kadic's Haunted House, which was essentially a wicked renovation of the music room. In addition, Odd was going to be one of the frightening exhibits. How he would scare anyone in a mime costume and being rendered speechless was a big mystery.

This left Aelita and Bryan. Both decided to opt out of joining the others in the haunted music room, citing that their tolerance of fear was exceptionally diminished.

The two had started taking walks across the campus during their free time. Occasionally, they were joined by the others and conversations would range from just about any topic. While LYOKO was seldom discussed, Aelita was always hopeful Bryan would reveal more about the supercomputer and Project CARTHAGE.

But today…

"Teach you how to skate?" the boy asked with an amused look as he fiddled with his pin-filled cap.

Aelita nodded shyly.

"You sure? It might be too much fun for you to handle," said Bryan as he circled around her.

The girl laughed. "Yes I'm–"

Bryan leapt up along the school wall and bent his knees before bouncing off the brick surface. And for a moment, he was up in the wind once more, propelled forward by the air around him. When he landed back on solid ground, Aelita made to grab the boy's arm to stop him from moving. The two stared at each other silently.

"I really do want to learn," she said softly, slowly loosening her grip.

"Then…I don't see why I can't…take on an apprentice to pass down my knowledge of the Wing Road," Bryan murmured.

Aelita raised her eyebrows, though a smile remained etched on her face. Always leave it up to Bryan to come up with a flamboyant way of saying something simple.

"The what road?"

"Never mind. Er, I guess…we can go this Friday to get your skates."

"Sounds good."

"And we'll start with the basic stuff."

"Sure."

"Like tying knots, proper maintenance, telling the difference between Flathead and Phillips screwdrivers and stuff like that."

"Uh…okay?"

Bryan chuckled at his friend's perplexed expression. "Just kidding. Don't worry; you'll be flying before you even know it."

Aelita felt her cheeks heat up. "Ye – yeah."

It was as if he knew why she wanted to take up skating in the first place.

To experience the sensation of flying. To feel free with the wind blowing through her hair. And to experience what it would feel like to be a bird – or even an _angel_.

Just like on LYOKO.

* * *

><p><strong>AELITA<strong>

"So, do you have any song requests for tonight?"

"Right…I kind of won't be going."

"You're not going either?" She had also been practicing for the dance during her SubDigitals rehearsals. And since Bryan had been taking her downtown every Friday, she would have really liked him to see – and hear – the fruits of her labour.

The boy shook his head. "I…I promised I'd go trick-or-treating with the kids, and this was before I knew about the dance. Sorry."

"It's alright. No need to apologize. What's this trick-or-treating anyways?"

"You've never heard of it?"

Now it was Aelita's turn to shake her head. "No. From the way it sounds, I don't really think children should be playing tricks on one another just to get treats. Is that what it is?"

_Another custom to which she was not accustomed to_, thought Bryan. "Huh? No, it's not like that. It's basically dressing up and going to people's houses and getting candy, chocolate and stuff like that."

"They get candy?" she asked interestedly.

"Yep. Though, I did see one guy giving out toothbrushes one year. Then again, it was the dentist's house… And some people go all out and decorate their houses, just like Christmas, except under a spooky motif. It's really fun."

"Really fun," muttered Aelita. Yet another missing childhood experience.

"Can I come with you?" she blurted out.

Bryan smiled. While pouting had absolutely no effect on him – or on Canadians in general – Aelita still looked quite adorable…

"Don't you have something important to do?"

"…Yes."

"And what are people going to do at the dance if there's no music to dance to? No offense to Odd or anything, but do we really want him taking over the sound tracks?"

Aelita laughed. Odd as DJ was the equivalent of Homer Simpson as President of the United States. Probably not a good idea.

"Not to mention all the hard work you've put into tonight's performance," Bryan continued.

"I…I guess you're right."

"I always am."

"Nope." Aelita shook her head, giggling.

"Fine. I may not always be right. But I'm never wrong."

She jabbed him on his left shoulder with her Keyblade.

"Hey, stop that. I need this arm to show off my awesome penmanship skills."

Bryan's straightforward reasoning only earned him another swipe.

"Fine, how about this, I promise to take you trick-or-treating next year. Given the right weather conditions, no full moon and little homework to do on that day."

"I'd – I'd like that."

"And if you be a…good girl…meaning no more hitting, I'll bring back some candy for you."

Aelita's eyes widened. "Really?"

Bryan nodded. "I've gotten everyone else's orders. Caramilk for Ulrich, Skittles for Yumi, Oh Henry! for Odd – at least, that's what I think he was trying to draw – and Wine Gums for Jeremie. How about you?"

"Oh…anything would be fine. But if you can get any…Starbursts and Jolly Ranchers?"

"Sure. No problem."

"Thank you Bryan."

"You're welcome," the boy replied as the bells rang to signal the end of their break, with Aelita forgetting to tell Bryan about the dream she had last night.

* * *

><p><strong>ULRICH<strong>

As usual, Sissi Delmas had asked Ulrich Stern to be her companion for a school event. And as usual, she was rejected by him. This time, from his ideology that couples were not feasible for a Halloween dance. Of course, Ulrich had no intention of going out with Sissi either way.

At least he was faring better than Yumi, who was telling him about her day while they were waiting in line to see the haunted house.

"Honestly, every time I walk into the classroom before the teacher arrives, the guys all start whistling and staring. It's getting awfully annoying."

"So you're going to break the bet?" asked Ulrich.

Yumi shook her head; she never backed out of anything. "No, but I may have to break a couple of jaws," she said threateningly.

"They're just jealous of you. And I'm pretty sure their girlfriends are pretty pissed off as well right now. I mean, you look awesome…er – not that you normally not look awesome…please don't break my jaw," Ulrich murmured that last part quietly.

Yumi cracked a small laugh and patted his shoulder. "Aww. Thanks for the compliment, 007."

"Just doing my job, ma'am."

"Still not a good British accent."

"Sorry."

"You two have your tickets?" barked Jim. The two had reached the front of the line, where their gym teacher was dressed in a sparkling white suit, gelled hair and sunglasses – even though they were indoors.

**Jim Morales  
>Dressed as: Elvis Presley<br>Status: Usher (occupation #028). **

_Looks someone will be boogying down tonight_, thought Ulrich as he handed Jim their entrance passes.

"Nice suit. By the way." Jim then lowered his voice. "Watch out for the fake blood as you turn 'round the second corner," he muttered under his breath.

"Ah. Thanks for the heads up."

"Alright then, enjoy yourselves and try not to scream too loudly," said Jim as he led them inside. Mad laughter could be heard from all sides.

"Challenge accepted," Ulrich smirked as darkness enveloped him and Yumi. And it was there that the two realized just how frightening Odd the maniacal mime could be.

* * *

><p>In the afternoon, Mrs. Hertz had turned the weekly laboratory session into a Hogwarts Potions 101 class. And while no Polyjuice potions, Essences of Insanity or other complex concoctions were being brewed, overall it was quite fun creating multi-colour, odorous solutions.<p>

Unfortunately for Ulrich, his partner was not only someone who had scared the living daylights out of him half an hour ago, but also couldn't speak or act adequately. This resulted in a complete misunderstanding of instructions and copious amounts of green goo spilled onto the floor.

"Dammit, when you want him to stop talking, he never shuts up. And when you want him to say something, he acts like a total goofball instead," Ulrich muttered to himself as he carefully poured orange liquid into a beaker, with Odd juggling empty vials beside him.

It wasn't until the last class of the day – mathematics – that Ulrich had to take out his notebook.

Unlike the other teachers, Ms. Lebreton went ahead with her full lesson on the transformations of functions. However, she did make Bryan take off his skates, citing them to be 'a safety concern to your fellow peers'. Bryan quietly retaliated, stating that the odour from his socks was probably a greater safety risk, which earned him ten awesome points from Odd and Ulrich, as well as a detention from Ms. Lebreton, who overheard.

And that's how Ms. Lebreton became Bryan's least favourite teacher.

* * *

><p><strong>JEREMIE<strong>

It was quiet evening inside Kadic's dormitories. The vast majority of students had either gone to attend the festivities in the gymnasium, or had ventured into nearby neighbourhoods for some sweet treats in a rare night out during the weekday.

None of this was of any concern to Jeremie. Shortly after he bade the other LYOKO warriors goodbye, he had an early dinner, showered and was now in his room working on his desktop.

He had just finished reading the contents of what turned out to be Franz Hopper's log book.

Or should he say, _Waldo Schaeffer's_ log book.

A lot of things made sense now, and some aspects were a tad bit ironic to say the least. For example, Aelita's Halloween costume…maybe it was merely a coincidence that it clued in to her true identity.

Her true purpose.

And that was just one of the many revelations Jeremie had discovered, including a potential breakthrough in the fight against XANA. There was also the matter of which Bryan had been aware of all along:

"_You do know what happens when Aelita loses all of her memories, right?_"

Jeremie now knew, and it did not bode well for his pink-haired friend. Or the others for that matter.

Aelita was a crucial figurehead on LYOKO, being the only one who could deactivate Towers. Yet, she also had a larger role to play; something more critical and dangerous at the same time.

She was_ The Key_. The one who held the entire digital world in balance.

Her father made a bold move. Rather than concealing the Keys within LYOKO – and risk having XANA acquire them – he had decided to incorporate them into the avatar of his daughter as a last line of defence.

That being said, Aelita was also missing an important piece of her memory, which was most likely under XANA's possession. There was a good chance that if they were able to reclaim this fragmented recollection, the bond between Aelita and XANA would be disconnected; the virus would no longer be in control of a part of would be free.

Following the fulfillment of this objective, the supercomputer could then be shut down, having served its purpose. This meant no more XANA attacks and life-threatening missions to thwart evil.

He would be able to lead a more normal teenage life.

Still, there were a couple of lingering questions. Where was XANA keeping this memory? And what was so important about that recollection? _Why did XANA steal that particular memory in the first place?_

* * *

><p><strong>Fragmented Legacy Fun Fact 013:<strong>

Aelita and Bryan's costumes are both of a fictional animated character named Sora – one from a video game (Kingdom Hearts), and one from a manga (Air Gear). The quote on memories at the beginning of the chapter was also from Kingdom Hearts.

* * *

><p><strong>A|N's:<strong>

After a four month hiatus, CL:FL is back! Although I initially planned this 'season' to simply build up towards one of the main focal points of this story, I've decided to add more backbone to the upcoming chapters in order to explore the relationships between the LYOKO warriors as well as some of the other characters. And yes, this means that Odd will finally get his own special chapter! And I'm almost certain the it will have something to do with food.

As everyone knows, October 31 gets awesomer at night, so stay tuned for Chapter 14!

Feel free to leave a comment, and as always, thanks for reading Code LYOKO: Fragmented Legacies =)


	14. All Hallows' Eve – Night

**14: All Hallows' Eve - Night **

* * *

><p><strong>AELITA<strong>

You know how some people have stage fright?

Well, Aelita suffered from a rarer case known as _pre_-stage fright.

It was the night of her debut performance, and the closer she got to the gymnasium, the more nervous she grew. The Keyblade on her back felt heavier and heavier as she visualized scenarios of screwing up; from verbal insults to rotten tomatoes being thrown at her. A part of her wished that Halloween was tomorrow instead.

Beside her, Odd, Ulrich and Yumi were conversing quietly amongst themselves, knowing full well that Aelita had gone under 'isolation mode'. Similar to the pre-game manner of professional baseball pitcher Roy Halladay, Aelita would barely utter a word or acknowledge anyone around her prior to any major presentation or performance. Of course, once she started performing, it was a completely different story.

Figuratively speaking, she became one with the music. She knew how to produce harmonious melodies effortlessly and possessed perfect pitch and rhythm senses. In fact, during rehearsals, the SubDigitals had let her do her own thing, and only occasionally offer some additional pointers; they were simply amazed by Aelita's proficiency in the musical arts.

Yumi tapped Aelita gently on the shoulder, which took the full-time LYOKO warrior and current Keyblade master several seconds to register. She looked up.

"Umm, we're here," was all her friend said.

Aelita swallowed and looked around. The festivities wouldn't be starting for another twenty minutes, and the vestibule just outside the gymnasium was already packed with eager teenagers. She also noticed a couple of faces she had never seen before; did they even go to this school? Of course, there was always the possibility that they were former students, or were brought to the party by their friends…

"Ah, Ms. Stones. Right on time," came Jim's booming voice.

"The A/V team is expecting you on stage in five for some last-minute tune-ups," he added as a camera flashed in front of him. Someone had just taken a groovy picture of Jim's Elvis form. And for a moment, Jim looked rather pompous before resuming his though-guy stance.

"Alright, alright. No more pictures," he growled, before turning back to Aelita and leading her towards the stage entrance.

"Best of luck, Princess."

"We all know it's going to be a great show and…what is it Odd?" asked Yumi as the boy nudged his way into the conversation. He handed Aelita a disk and a small slip of paper.

"Er, Odd…I think you've missed the point. We kind of…_don't_ want Aelita booted off the stage. Your demos don't really help in this aspect," Ulrich remarked to the snickers of the other two girls.

Odd made several gestures which were completely indiscernible. So Aelita waved and left the group to follow Jim.

And as Aelita made herself comfortable in her makeshift 'office' for the next several hours, the symptoms of her pre-stage fright gradually diminished. She put on headphones as her mind went over the playlist one last time.

_It's showtime_.

* * *

><p><strong>ULRICH<strong>

The Halloween 2006 dance started off with a loud bang, followed by a smatter of applause and cheers.

When Odd, Ulrich and Yumi followed the long line in, Aelita had already gotten everyone upbeat with one of France's hit synthpop duo Daft Punk's electrifying compositions. Ulrich spotted her on the stage, moving her hands ever so fluently across the switchboard.

In retrospect, Aelita was a good – no – _great_ disk jockey.

Kadic's gymnasium was by no means massive. But with several hundred partying adolescents combined with loud music and minimal lighting, Team LYOKO proved that a trio can be separated in less than fifteen minutes.

Perhaps it was when Jim Morales finally gave into peer pressure and began showing off his dance moves from the seventies. That created a mini-stampede as students flocked over and quickly surrounded the full-time teacher and current disco star. Or maybe it was when Odd's chick sensors lit up and he quickly dragged Ulrich along with him.

Whatever the case, Ulrich and Odd had lost sight of Yumi. On the other hand, they did stumble upon a familiar face…

"_…_And that's how I snuck into Ms. Lebreton's class after the bell," Samantha Knight finished epicly.

Odd clapped his hands enthusiastically. Even Ulrich looked mildly impressed, though he highly doubted that he could replicate such feat.

"Thank you. Thank you. You're much to kind," she said, taking several bows.

**Samantha Knight  
>Dressed as: Red Riding Hood<br>Status: Where were you in the first thirteen chapters?**

"Anyways, what are you guys up to these days? Where's Yumi?" she questioned Ulrich.

"Well…we kinda lost sight of her…"

"Isn't she your date?"

Ulrich choked. "What? What, no! We're just friends, that's all," he said hastily.

Samantha offered a look of skepticism, but then shrugged and headed off with her classmates.

Odd then handed Ulrich a slip of paper. Ulrich unfolded it, turned on his cell phone for some light. It was only three seconds before his eyebrows narrowed and he scrunched up the note.

"Oh God. Seriously?"

The mime nodded earnestly. Ulrich sighed and agreed to temporarily suspend his search for Yumi. There wasn't much to lose anyways…besides his self-esteem. And he reasoned that sooner or later, they would run into her. After all, according to Jeremie, the gymnasium was only roughly 100 square feet…or something like that. Why he was able to recall such a useless figure was beyond him.

"Fine I'll be your wingman. But I'm telling you, this won't work."

* * *

><p><strong>ODD<strong>

According to Odd Della Robbia's factbook, dances are events in which surprisingly only 24% of the time is devoted to actual dancing. The majority of the time – 57% – was either spent on finding a date or keeping your current one content. Despite how interesting this statistic may seem, its validity was questionable. Another tidbit of information in Odd's almanac claimed that 83% of statistics were just pure hogwash.

"Haaave you met Odd?" Ulrich asked a pretty blonde-haired nurse.

Beside him, Odd waved and performed his 'trapped-in-a-box' imitation. Sadly, his impression was neither impressive nor amusing as the girl merely raised her eyebrows and turned her attention back to the break dancers.

Five pick-up attempts had been met with five unanimous rejections. This was especially frustrating for Agent Stern, who was doing most of the work.

"This isn't working, Odd. I told you mimes were overrated. Every girl we've met either seemed more interested in me – and you can bet Yumi will kill me later if she saw this – or…at the sight of this awesome suit!" said Ulrich as he smoothed the front of his black coat.

The mime shrugged and appeared to concede in defeat. He then made a cup with his hand and performed a pouring action into his mouth. Ulrich, who had been slowly improving his aptitude in charades throughout the day understood.

"Umm…sure, drinks sound fine. I'll have my usual."

Odd shivered and scrunched his face in disgust. Only a person who lacked taste buds would find a mixture of every carbonated beverage to be delicious. In addition, Ulrich liked it with a hint of apple juice.

"Whatever, I'm going over there and see if I can find Yumi."

As Odd weaved through the masses of costumed individuals, he was caught flat-footed from an oncoming 'people train' and accidentally bumped into a fellow partygoer, who turned around.

"Hey! You're one of Bryan's friends. Odd – right?"

It was Catherine. She was holding a half-empty glass of juice and was hanging out with a group of girls Odd recognized as members of Kadic's cheerleading team. Despite the minimal amount of light, he could clearly make out her smoking hot body. However, it was something else that had him momentarily stunned.

Her bright green hair.

Regaining his composure and being unable to offer a verbal compliment, he mounted a large smile and flashed Catherine a thumbs up.

Catherine Horvath's smile grew wider as she brushed some of the hair in front of her face. In addition, she was carrying a circular duffel bag with a yellow star in the middle. She wore purple leggings and a light hoodie that covered a tight bright-coloured shirt.

"You don't look so shabby yourself, Mr. Mime," she said as Odd pointed to her hair.

"What? Oh…of course it's not my real hair colour, silly. It's just a part of my awesome costume. Took a bit more than a bottle to get it this shade as well."

Odd had a strange feeling he knew who Catherine was dressed up as. Unnatural hair colour – almost as unique as Bryan's – to go along with a unique bag design. And just like Aelita, she had a large weapon strapped to her back that resembled a large…hammer.

**Catherine Horvath  
>Dressed as: Ramona Flowers<br>Status: Party Queen.**

"Hey Catherine, look who it is," one of the girls beside her said.

It was none other than Count Dracula. Some of the other girls bashed their eyelashes. However, the co-captain of the senior volleyball team appeared to only have eyes for the girl with the hammer.

**Erik Stevenson  
>Dressed as: Vampire<br>Status: Cooler than all the other Erics spelled with a 'c'. Also Catherine's boyfriend.**

"Hey Cathy–"

"Please don't call me that," said Catherine. Although her tone was calm, her eyes flickered in annoyance. She hated it when people came up with nicknames for her.

"Sorry babe. Just got you another 7-Up. You wanna go grab something to eat? The other guys are already there."

"Oh. Yeah, that would be fine. Haven't eaten anything since lunch."

"Awesome. You guys are welcome to join us," he nodded to Catherine's group of girl friends, who looked ecstatic. Erik grinned and placed an arm over Catherine's shoulder, directing her to the food station, not even acknowledging Odd's existence.

Catherine turned her head slightly to the side, and for a moment, she made eye contact with Odd and looked slightly apologetic. She gave him a little wave, which the mime returned with a smile. However, behind that smile was an empty, hollow feeling.

True, he always knew that the chances of hitting it off with Catherine was slim to none. They weren't in the same grade and barely saw each other during the day, apart from when Bryan was around. Nevertheless, compared to all the other awesome girls ranked in his almanac, Catherine was of a completely different class altogether.

Yes, she was pretty…pretty hot. But she also made his heart skip a beat. And seeing Erik being so intimate with her made him feel slightly uneasy. And so, Odd decided to wait a while before getting refreshments, hoping that he won't have to bump into Catherine along the way.

* * *

><p><strong>YUMI<strong>

_At last._

Aelita had finally gotten around to playing a remixed version of U2's _Vertigo_. Yumi also temporarily stopped her search for the others – it really shouldn't have taken _that_ long to hook Odd up with his eighth date – and found herself unconsciously tapping her foot to the beat and humming the catchy melody by heart. She glanced up at the stage and saw that the DJ's seat was empty.

Yumi then felt something brush up against her arm and instinctively balled her firsts in self-defense. However, she turned to see her pink-haired friend offering her a drink.

"Thanks Aelita!" Yumi yelled over the noise and took a long sip, feeling instantly revitalized.

"What are you doing here?"

Aelita shook her head and cupped a hand to her ear.

"I said, what are you doing down here?" said Yumi, louder.

"Oh. Break time! I needed to stretch my legs and grab something to drink," Aelita hollered back.

"Anyways, great show so far. I've never seen Jim in disco-mode before. Nor did I know that he was so flexible…" she added.

Aelita laughed. "Glad you're enjoying it. Where's Ulrich and Odd?"

"Lost sight of them. I think Ulrich's acting as Odd's wingman."

"What's that?"

"Guy who helps other guy get chicks," replied Yumi.

"Ah, right. Because Odd is verbally impaired."

"By the way, isn't this song going to end soon?"

Aelita took out her mobile phone to check the time. Yumi was indeed correct; _Vertigo_ had been going on for nearly three minutes.

"You're right. I should get going then." She waved and rushed back to her post.

Yumi finished the rest of the drink just as the next song – Red Hot Chili Pepper's _Dani California_ – started and decided to make her way over to the food station, hoping to stumble upon the two boys along the way.

And that's when someone grabbed her from behind.

* * *

><p>"May I…?" said a deep, slurred voice close to her ear. It didn't sound like Odd – who couldn't talk anyways – or Ulrich. Yumi's nose instantly detected the putrid smell of alcohol – there wasn't supposed to be any booze at the dance. Who was this guy?<p>

Yumi tried to turn around, but she could barely move her body. Her attacker had an arm wrapped around her torso and the other over her mouth so she couldn't yell or move the upper half of her body. She tried a back-kick, but not only did the skirt she was wearing limit her movement, but the person behind her didn't even react; he was likely wasted.

Around her, Yumi could see a group of older boys whom she was certain weren't in her class surrounding her, all looking drunk and some possessing lopsided grins. How come no one had noticed any of this?

"It's going to be fun. You'll enjoy this," said one of the hooded individuals. Yumi desperately thought of way to grab attention, but her mind came up blank.

"Wish we got the pink one instead. She's hotter," another one of them slurred while several others nodded in agreement. The man behind Yumi started grinding into her. It was the most uncomfortable sensation Yumi had ever experienced. She remained frozen in shock, unsure and unable to do anything.

Yumi tried biting person's hand and tasted leather – he was wearing gloves and didn't even flinch. Then, another wasted person stepped forward and reached towards her, his hands centimetres away from her chest–

WHAM!

He hit the floor head first with a definite thud and was knocked out cold. The others were shocked by what had just transpired, before fixing their attention on a boy with a rather fine black suit.

"You _bastards_. What the hell is this?" Ulrich said through gritted teeth, not even bothering to conceal his fury.

While everyone was distracted, Yumi felt the man's grip weaken and felt a sudden rush of adrenaline. She swung around, managing to free her arms first from his grip, and was about to land an uppercut when she felt someone grab her hand.

"Come on Yumi, let's go!" said Ulrich urgently as he gave one more roundhouse kick. He tightened his grip on Yumi's hand.

The group of boys started to move in, but Ulrich and Yumi managed to squeeze themselves through – their reaction time clearly superior – and then flitted by a congo line, trying to look as calm as possible. They reached the back end of the gymnasium and opened the door together and felt an oncoming gust of wind hit them as they stepped outside, hand in hand.

* * *

><p>The two remained silent and kept walking. They would turn back occasionally to check if they were being followed. It wasn't until the music died down considerably, did they slow down.<p>

"Ulrich?"

The boy slowed down. "Yeah?"

"You…you can let go of my hand now."

Ulrich flushed. He hadn't quite noticed that he was holding onto something that had gradually felt warmer. "S-sorry."

"It's fine," said Yumi, whose cheeks were also crimson from embarrassment. To be honest, she didn't really mind the hand-to-hand contact. However, her mind was too distracted from replaying the last ten minutes – when she had felt completely rigid and helpless, unable to fight back.

But then Ulrich came. And protected her from those…those perverted drunk Neanderthals, for a more mature expression.

Ulrich had saved her. Again.

"You alright?" the boy asked.

"What an idiot I am," said Yumi suddenly as she punched the bark of the nearest tree.

"Yumi–"

"I was weak. Completely useless," the girl muttered bitterly. How could she have almost lost – how could she have been paralyzed by fear?

"Yumi…"

"Couldn't do anything…"

"Yumi!" Ulrich shouted, which prompted Yumi to look up and face him.

"Listen, you're not weak. You're not useless. You're one of the…strongest people I know, and that's not just in terms of physical strength. And you're…you're always looking out for me too. Remember that guy who tried to take my lunch when I first got here?"

Yumi looked at him quizzically. "Odd?"

"What? Oh, must've been sometime during the first week then. Anyways, we barely knew each other. And yet you stood up for me."

The girl remembered it vividly. It happened just after the first time they met; following their first LYOKO adventure.

"And you know what? Marco hasn't bothered me since. And during Pencat Silat training, you always destroy me," Ulrich added as an afterthought, albeit one he wasn't that proud of.

Yumi stifled a tiny chuckle.

"It's true! I've rarely been able to take you down."

"But just now I –"

"You were outnumbered and those bums had taken hold of both of your hands and binded you. You couldn't have done anything."

"Well yes, but–"

"And…isn't that's what friends are for anyways? You've got my back and I've got yours? That sort of thing?"

"Okay yeah, you're right. You can stop delving into all of those corny motivational speeches like Odd and Bryan."

"Wait, Bryan's does those motivational speeches as well?"

"Sometimes, according to Aelita. I don't think he's as bad as Odd though."

"Oh. Sorry."

Yumi laughed. "It's alright. But…I am grateful that you…you were there for me…"

"Y-yeah. No problem."

An awkward silence followed, as the two – superspy and schoolgirl – realized that they were all alone. Once again, it was just the two of them.

"So…full moon tonight," said Ulrich, who promptly realized what ridiculousness just came out of his mouth.

"Umm…okay…" said Yumi.

_This is it_, she thought to herself. _The opportunity. Just like in various media productions. But how to create a proper opening?_ Yumi hated ever showing signs of weakness, which contributed to her finding it hard to share her inner feelings. Besides, usually it was the guy who made the first move, right?

Nope. Ulrich seemed to be immersed in his own thoughts as well. So, in order to prevent him from coming up with any more random outbursts or motivational speeches, Yumi spoke up.

"Ulrich?"

"Hmm?"

"I'd like to thank you–"

"You already did. It's–"

"Would you just shut up for a sec? I'd like to thank you _properly_."

Yumi leaned in, for once allowing her instincts to override her morals. A small peck, just like the last time. A token of appreciation_…_

Ulrich's heart began beating faster inside of his costume.

_Calm down_, he thought to himself, as his mouth curled to form a small smile. Ulrich noticed that Yumi's eyes were closed, and he closed his as well; not before making sure that his lips wouldn't miss hers.

And that's when he felt a sudden jab to his side. His eyes flashed wide open.

"What the–"

Almost simultaneously, Yumi quickly straightened up and shoved Ulrich away with her palms. Still, both of their beet-red cheeks gave it away.

Where was a 'do not disturb' sign when you needed it? Not that you expected someone renowned for ruining romantic moments to follow it anyways.

It appeared as though Ulrich and Yumi hadn't gone far enough away from the gymnasium, as Odd Della Robbia still managed to track them down. Indeed, Odd had arrived at quite possibly the most convenient time, holding a cup of Ulrich's mixture of many sodas.

It was a full three seconds before he seemed to take the hint. Odd then tried to make a sheepish shrug. However, in his comical Halloween outfit, it came out more like the foolish grin of a peeping tom caught in the act. Sensing the increasingly hostile environment, Odd set the drink on the floor, performed a little curtsy, and then ran for his life.

"I'M GONNA KILL YOU ODD!" yelled Ulrich as he sprinted after his roommate, leaving his blushing and flustered friend behind.

Yumi chuckled and picked up Ulrich's abandoned drink. She took a small sip of the carbonated beverage – which tasted quite terrible – and sighed.

_Another missed opportunity._

Some things never change.

* * *

><p><strong>Fragmented Legacy Fun Fact 014:<br>**The bet Yumi lost to Odd that subsequently resulted in her dressed as a schoolgirl for Halloween was for who would win the 2006 FIFA World Cup that summer. Odd chose Italy (because it was his home country) while Yumi chose France (because Zidane was on that team). And after a one-one draw, an infamous head-butt and a penalty shoot-out, Italy emerged victorious.

And so did Odd =)

* * *

><p><strong>A|N's:<br>**Everything's getting back on track! From the usual routine of a spoiler followed by a new chapter, to Odd maintaining his status as a hopeless romantic (perhaps a single Odd is a better Odd…).

I apologize for the delay - this chapter was supposed to be released last week (d'oh!), but I ran into some technical difficulties. In my personal opinion, this has been the hardest chapter to write so far; largely because I can barely remember how dances go (probably because I never attended any of them).

As some of you have noticed, I've taken down the extra 'Once Upon A Time' preview chapter, since Season II is underway.

Feel free to leave a comment, and as always, thanks for reading Code LYOKO: Fragmented Legacies!


	15. The Key of Destiny

**15: The Key of Destiny**

* * *

><p>It was a long night.<p>

It wasn't dark and stormy by any means; however, for some it felt as if there was a lengthy lull between dusk and dawn.

For the majority of students who had stayed up and participated in the Halloween festivities, it felt as if there was no time elapsed since the time they collapsed onto their beds to hearing the blaring rings of their alarm clocks. In fact, Kadic's cafeteria was still partly occupied by zombified students, hung-over from the midweek partying and the late-night sugar rushes.

Then there were exceptions such as Odd Della Robbia, who despite having gone to bed with a bag and belly full of chocolate at one in the morning, was positively energized and alert. Apart from wolfing down his breakfast with his traditional gusto, he was also back to his cheerful and talkative self.

"You know, I've almost forgotten what we do in this fanfic," he remarked casually before taking a long chug of orange juice.

"What on earth are you muttering about Odd?" said Yumi, who was completely oblivious that her friend had just broken the fourth wall for his first – and last time.

"By the way guys, how did it go yesterday evening?"

"Absolutely astonishing. You missed a really great show Jeremie."

While being the master manager of music for five hours proved to be slightly tiring, the full-time LYOKO warrior and former Keyblade Master thoroughly enjoyed the experience. In her opinion, it didn't even feel like five hours had passed from when she first stood on top of the stage, to when she played the last song.

"Oh come on. Ulrich's just exaggerating. I wasn't that great," said Aelita with modesty.

"Hey Aelita! You were amazing last night!" one passer-by exclaimed, as if on cue.

"I guess that takes care of that then," Odd concluded.

"I also overheard this morning that several intoxicated individuals were also causing a bit of mayhem at the dance."

Ulrich and Yumi looked at each other briefly, before the boy hastily began making an act of spreading marmalade over his toast, hoping the conversation would veer towards another subject.

"You heard right. Still, it was pretty awesome seeing Jim single-handedly manhandling drunk people. And then of course, the cops arrived. Turned out they didn't even go to this school."

"Really?"

"Yeah. Sam told me they were just some party crashers. Anyways, sorry for ruining your moment last night," Odd nodded in the direction of Ulrich and Yumi.

"What happened?" asked Aelita interestingly, a grin slowly unraveling across her face.

Again, Ulrich and Yumi quickly exchanged glances, with the latter attempting to telepathically say something along the lines of 'not a word', while Ulrich tried to whisper 'make something up'.

"Nothing."

"He accid – nothing," Yumi responded simultaneously.

"Anyways, Jeremie you said you had something to share with us?" said Ulrich hastily.

"Oh, it's nothing much," began Jeremie before dropping the bombshell: "except that I may have found a way to sink two birds with one stone."

The other LYOKO warriors looked confused.

_Never go for the analogy before the explanation_, Jeremie made a silent note to himself before explaining what he meant.

"I think I've found a way to take out XANA and free Aelita from the supercomputer for good."

All of a sudden, the table grew quiet and the surrounding noise seemed to diminish. Jeremie continued.

"I finished reading Franz Hopper's logbook last night. While it didn't include any documentation or procedures pertaining to Project CARTHAGE, there were a lot of his personal notes. Like a journal of some sort."

"So what does it say?"

"The main point is that there's actually no connection at all between you and XANA. I ran a quick scan on your avatar this morning to confirm this, and I couldn't find a trace of foreign codes linking you to the virus."

"Hold on. Aelita still experienced negative side effects when we turned off the supercomputer though."

"Yeah. That's because while there is no connection, XANA has something that belongs to Aelita. A part of her memory."

As Team LYOKO slowly digested this revelation, it made more and more sense. And if Jeremie's speculation was true, they knew exactly which memory XANA was in possession of.

Aelita's childhood.

The answer to how she ended up on LYOKO. Perhaps a clearer image of what had transpired during the last days of Project CARTHAGE – the last days Aelita had spent with her family.

But why – and more importantly – _how_ did XANA end up with a strand of Aelita's memory? What had really happened all these years ago?

* * *

><p>"Memories fade over time. Since you're lacking the complete set, per say, I assume that it impacts you more detrimentally Aelita. That's probably why you fell unconscious when we first shut down the supercomputer. You needed to regularly return to LYOKO in order to refresh your existing recollections. As of now, they are more or less your life essence."<p>

"So that's what XANA's after every time it sends the Scyphozoa to attack me? It's after more of my memories?"

"Not just any memories."

"What do you mean?" questioned Ulrich, frowning.

"Up until now, its attacks have always been on the basis that it infiltrates Towers on LYOKO. Without them, XANA poses no threat in the real world. And we've all agreed that it has the typical antagonist goal."

"Of trying to take over the world," said Yumi. She never quite understood why every evil entity was infatuated with this assignment; surely there must've been other more feasible malevolent deeds to commit.

"Exactly. However, XANA's attacks have always been limited to a small scale in the real world because it is constrained by the LYOKO intranet network. I mean, the most damage it could have ever done was when it hacked into the local nuclear power plant. And that would've only impacted a small portion of France. Not really of the global domination scale in my opinion."

"It hasn't even been that difficult for us to stop XANA either," Ulrich pointed out.

"Yep. Just an average fifteen-twenty minute routine. Create diversion, fight XANA's monsters and deactivate Tower. Mission Accomplished," added Odd.

"That's why I'm under the impression that XANA is trying to find a way to _escape_ from LYOKO and onto a larger, global network."

"And to do that, it requires my memories?"

"Yes."

"And why is that?"

Jeremie took a deep breath.

"Your father made you the Key of LYOKO. The one who keeps the digital world in balance. You're the only one who can deactivate Towers and stop XANA on LYOKO. That's what XANA is after. The Key is not a physical object, but it's embedded within your memories. If it obtains the Key, it can break free of the digital world."

"But if we can retrieve your memory, we can put a stop to this. Furthermore, you'll finally be completely free from the supercomputer and then it can be shut down before XANA causes any more trouble. It will be our last mission."

* * *

><p><strong>AELITA<strong>

_You're the Key_.

Aelita's world turned upside down the moment Jeremie uttered the three words. However, the mood around her was the exact opposite. All of the other LYOKO warriors were positively ecstatic as they thought about what could possibly be their final trip to the digital world. Well before having to deal with the stress of final exams.

"Looks like we've got an ultimate boss fight ahead then," remarked Yumi rather confidently, showing no signs of fear or worry.

_She was the Key; completely intertwined with one of her father's insane megaprojects._

"It'll be a piece of cake. Go in there, retrieve the memory, kick some monster butt and leave. Textbook stealth-search mission. And we all know who's the best in stealth-based video games in this school!" added Odd, who was already uploading reconnaissance tactics in his mind.

_She was nothing but a tool – just like another computer program, designed to sustain LYOKO's existence._

"I hate to break it to you Odd, but I've seen you play SOCOM: U.S. Navy SEALs…and I'm afraid that title belongs to someone else," Ulrich smirked.

_She was the one XANA was after all this time because XANA needed her – no – because it needed the Keys. She, on the other hand, was completely disposable._

"We should probably celebrate once all of this is over," added Jeremie thoughtfully. The others were surprised by his recommendation. Jeremie Belpois: partygoer? Inconceivable.

_So it had all been for nothing. They were merely prolonging the inevitable._

"Sounds great Jeremie. By the way, you're paying for the food right?"

_And why had Bryan never bothered telling her any of this? Surely he must have known._

"Aelita?"

She heard Jeremie call her name and looked up from her train of thought to see a warm smile on his face.

"You feeling alright? You've barely said a word or touched your breakfast. Can't fight XANA on an empty stomach."

"I–"

"So…this is really it then. Our final mission," Ulrich restated. A little over a year later, Team LYOKO's battle against XANA was at last coming to a close.

"The Quest for the Missing Memory. Or in perhaps a less medieval context: Mission LII: Recovering Aelita's Recollection," Odd declared happily.

Aelita couldn't take it anymore. "_Out of the question!_" she snapped angrily. She quickly got up and stomped out of the cafeteria, leaving her friends completely shocked and speechless. Jeremie made to get up, but she had already vanished from his sight.

This was most definitely _not_ how he expected his friend to react. They were so close to the end, only a fragmented memory separated them from mission accomplished. What was quite possibly the final trip to LYOKO was supposed to be something worth celebrating. Everyone was upbeat and cheerful.

Everyone, except for Aelita.

_What went wrong?_

* * *

><p><strong>BRYAN<strong>

Without going into too much detail about the sixteen year-old's sleeping patterns, Bryan Green was never able to wake up as early as his other Kadic colleagues. It wasn't that he went to bed late into the night, nor was it from suffering from sleeping disorders such as insomnia.

Nevertheless, it seemed as though his biological clock would always wake him up a little after eight. In addition, when he woke up, his sharp blue hair was all over the place, stuck up in a variety of angles which made morning showers mandatory.

Today, he still felt quite worn out from last night's trick-or-treating adventure. Not wanting to discover that Odd had eaten all of the breakfast for the day, Bryan reluctantly got up and headed for the washrooms. Five minutes later, he returned to his room to change and took out the sugary sweets from his schoolbag, replacing them with his chemistry assignment, notebooks and pencil case. Bryan was about to reach for the door, when he heard someone knocking from the other side.

It was Aelita.

"You're here quite early. What's–"

"Can we talk?" Aelita asked quietly.

"Uh…Sure." Bryan led her into his room.

Aelita took a quick look around. Since he had arrived late, he had gotten a single bedroom similar to Jeremie's. The only difference was with the use of space. While Jeremie's room was filled to the brim with various contents, Bryan had clearly packed less luggage, which made his room appear generally clean and in order. And hanging over his bed was a large red and white flag with a maple leaf that proudly displayed Canadian awesomeness.

"So, what did you want to talk about?" said Bryan cheerfully. He was still completely unaware of Aelita's sombre tone as he ushered her towards a guest chair. However, she remained standing and got right to the point.

"You knew all along, didn't you?"

* * *

><p><strong>JEREMIE<strong>

Fifteen minutes after the morning bell, Bryan entered the classroom. Fortunately, Mr. Helmholtz was too busy writing on the board to notice his late arrival. Unfortunately, just as he took his seat:

"Mr. Helmholtz, Bryan just came in," Sissi called out without raising her hand, an oft-ignored procedure that nevertheless should be followed should students wish to speak in class.

"Shut up, Sissi," the boy muttered so that only those around him could hear, including Sissi who looked highly affronted. Jeremie, Ulrich and Odd were also taken aback by Bryan's menacing tone. He didn't appear to be his typical neutral self. He looked cranky and exhausted, even though it was only ten in the morning. In addition, he had a worried expression on his face.

Mr. Helmholtz turned around. "Hmm? Oh. Glad of you to join us Mr. Green. Try not to be late that often in the future, will you," he said casually, before going back to his lecture notes. In terms of attendance leniency, Mr. Helmholtz reigned supreme in this category. He generally didn't mind students coming in late, as long as it was not on a routine basis and they were performing well in the course.

A few minutes later, Jeremie turned to face Bryan and whispered: "She went to see you, right? What happened?"

At first, it appeared as though Bryan was intentionally ignoring his question, his eyes were fixated solely on the blackboard crammed full of Mr. Helmholtz's writing. Upon catching up with the material, he put his pencil down and was about to say something when Aelita waked in.

Upon closer inspection, Aelita also appeared crestfallen and her eyes were slightly red. She passed by Bryan and Jeremie without a word, and instead of taking her usual seat between the two of them, she headed for an isolated table at the back.

Immediately, the classroom was abuzz over what had transpired. Aelita and Bryan had both arrived late, one after the other. And both of them looked tired. This could only mean one thing.

"You think those two…_did it_?" was the general rumour being circulated.

They did do something indeed.

Aelita had just been through her first fight with Bryan.

* * *

><p><strong>AELITA<strong>

At lunch, Aelita was walking outside by herself. It usually helped her collect her thoughts. But today, she just couldn't shake the recent revelations out of her head.

She had completely blanked out during the English quiz, not that a stupid evaluation worth three percent of her grade mattered much anymore. She was too frustrated with herself, her friends, and especially with how Bryan he had kept things from her.

How could the others be so excited at the prospect of battling XANA? How could they be so excited at once again putting their lives at risk, just so she could reclaim what was sure to be a tragic recollection of the past? It was all unnecessary. After all, XANA was only interested in her.

Then there was Bryan.

_"You knew all along, didn't you?"_

Aelita had merely asked that simple question. And Bryan had lied, pretending to be perplexed before giving in upon realizing that she had already figured it out. Sure, he was keeping some secrets from her, but didn't she have the right to know this at least? Shouldn't she have the right to know that all she ever was – was a tool for her father's projects?

She remembered raising her voice. Her entire life – her entire existence was simply devoted to being no more than another computer program with an enormous burden. Just like the Greek Titan Atlas, she was responsible for holding the existence of a world on her back.

And that's when everything fell apart. In many ways, Aelita and Bryan possessed similar personalities. Both highly disliked being criticized and were very defensive of their point of view.

Weary of listening to Aelita snapping at him, Bryan retorted with a menacing coldness that stunned the pink-haired girl. No one had ever talked back to her with such hostility. That proved to be the tipping point; all she wanted to do was let out her frustration at something – at someone; to inflict pain. She couldn't remember the last time she had felt this angry.

_"If I told you that you this when we first met, there'd be no difference; you would have just spazzed out at me like you are doing right know at this very instant."_

_"So…you weren't going to tell me at all?"_

_"Sometimes it's better to be oblivious to the obvious."_

Aelita wanted to seek reassurance from Bryan, to get away from it all. What she found was completely different. She liked to have thought that she won hostile argument, seeing as how Bryan had barely been able to say anything back. And yet, she didn't feel any better afterwards.

For the second time during her second stint on Earth, she was completely lost, without direction. She felt as if she didn't really belong in either world – real or virtual.

It was then that Aelita made her decision, as she turned around and headed towards the place where it all started.

The only way to end this whole ordeal, was a world without her in the equation.

* * *

><p>She placed one hand on the plug, took a deep breath and closed her eyes.<p>

_It's for the best_.

And that's when she heard what was unmistakably rapidly moving footsteps. Aelita froze.

Jeremie had arrived in the nick of time to see his friend standing right next to the electrical outlet, holding onto the main cable that connected to the supercomputer.

"Aelita, don't!" he pleaded, huffing and puffing.

"How…did you find me here?"

"We – Odd, Yumi, Ulrich and I – looked all over the school for you. We were worried. I…kind of had a feeling you'd be here," Jeremie explained as he continued to pant, clutching his side. He could not recall the last time he ran so fast, or for such a long distance.

Aelita nodded silently. "I see."

"Why are you doing this?"

"To…to keep the rest of you safe."

"How so?" asked Jeremie, trying to buy more time as he attempted to get his friend to reconsider her actions.

"You know exactly why," she said sharply. "You've all have been risking your lives the past year. There have been so many unnecessary near-death cases. And for what? XANA's only after me. With me out of the equation, there will be no more XANA. No more danger."

"Aelita…you're being selfish."

Her eyes flashed with anger from Jeremie's comment. "Excuse me?"

"All you've been talking about is yourself. Have you ever considered how we would feel with you out of the equation?"

_How _I_ would feel with you out of the equation_, Jeremie muttered under his breath.

"B-but I'm nothing. I'm no one," she said, her voice dropping to a barely audible volume. "I don't have anything left. My family…and my–" At this point, she was unable to go any further. The tears she had been fighting to hold back gushed forth.

Jeremie moved in closer. He noticed that Aelita had relinquished her grip on the cable, which lay tangled up on the floor.

"That's not true you know," he said slowly, measuring the value of each of his words. "You still have us. And likewise, you're an incredibly important part of our lives."

"So what if you can't remember any of your childhood experiences? What about all of the fun times you've had since you returned to the real world?"

Aelita continued sobbing, but images of various moments and events throughout the course of the previous year began to pop into her head. The friends she had made. The things she had done. The places she had been to.

The time Odd dressed up as Santa Claus during Christmas. To be honest, she actually thought he was the real thing until Odd's dog, Kiwi tore off his beard. Then there was spending Valentine's Day with Jeremie. And the school trip to the film festival at Cannes earlier in May. And more recently, she was selected out of numerous applicants to be a part of the SubDigitals, doing what she enjoyed doing.

Her mind then mind drifted back to one person in particular.

Bryan.

* * *

><p>In the one month they had known each other – she didn't know how to describe it – but she was always…<em>enthralled<em> to be with him. Despite being quite secretive and enigmatic with respect to his past, Bryan had been a good friend who had helped her out greatly, whether it was getting to her first rehearsal in downtown Paris, or promising to teach her how to skate and better control her LYOKO powers.

However, today had changed everything. Jeremie had helped her realize one thing; that he was right, and she was wrong. Aelita wished she could have taken back every hurtful thing she had said to him in the heat of the moment. She distinctly remembered seeing the look in his eyes; it was as if the fire behind them had burned out. She really had gone too far.

Aelita then realized how incredibly foolish she had been. Jeremie was also correct in reminding her that she had been only thinking of herself – forgetting about the big picture. Aelita regretted ever thinking that sacrificing herself was the best possible ramification. Plus, in doing so, she would also be breaking the promises she made to herself at the beginning of the school year. There was still a lot to do, and a lot to experience in what was truly an amazing world. And she wasn't ready to leave it yet.

Finally, there was Team LYOKO, her closely-knit group of friends who had supported her through it all, who had always stood by her side. In fact, they were very much her family. Her past life was still inscrutable – and yet that didn't seem to matter as much anymore – she still had the present, and the future to carve her own path.

"Aelita?" Jeremie asked nervously.

"Oh…sorry Jeremie. I was just thinking…I – I guess I am quite fortunate."

"But I still can't forgive my father. Why did he make me the key bearer of LYOKO? It's just so…so overwhelming."

Jeremie placed a hand on Aelita's shoulder and knelt down so that the two were level with one another.

"Well, I'm positive your father had his reasons. I mean, yes he gave you a tremendous burden. But he also loves you. And that doesn't need proof or evidence. I'm sure that he gave you the Keys to LYOKO because…he had faith in you. He believed that you would be able to stop XANA. To keep the world safe."

Aelita had never thought of it that way. Jeremie's words provided a sense of comfort and inspiration. She wiped the last of her salty tears from her face, and placed a warm hand over his.

"Thank you," she mumbled softly.

For a moment, Jeremie was half-expecting some form of physical gratitude; perhaps a warm embrace.

It didn't happen.

Nevertheless, he was content with being able to cheer Aelita up and earning a personal gold star for conflict resolution in the process. And that was enough for now. So long as she was happy, he would be as well.

"Anytime. Now…are you ready to get your memory back?"

Aelita smiled. Alone, she could have done so little. But together with Jeremie and the others, she was on top of the world. Even though she had her doubts – this would probably be the toughest battle yet – she knew one thing was certain.

In the end, everything will be alright. And after the battle, she would go sort things out with Bryan and hopefully, things will work out on that end as well. Thus, with a newfound sense of strength and determination, she got up off the floor, unaware that she was still holding Jeremie's hand.

"Let's end this once and for all."

* * *

><p><strong>Fragmented Legacy Fun Fact 015:<strong>

Does this chapter feel like déjà vu? Indeed, some things that happened in the TV show have been worked into this story (e.g. Aelita finding out she's the Key of LYOKO). However, the outcome may be different this time around…

* * *

><p><strong>A|N's:<strong>

I apologize for the late release. I've been pretty busy in June and haven't gotten around to updating as often. In fact, the beginning of this chapter pretty much references this month-long lapse, along with some breaking of the fourth wall antics by Odd.

And as always, thanks for reading Code LYOKO: Fragmented Legacies!


	16. Brave

_When we are put to the test, it is the one thing we must always be…_

**16: Brave**

* * *

><p><strong>YUMI<strong>

For the first time in Team LYOKO's relatively short history, it would be the five high school students striking first against XANA.

Sadly, they were unable to come up with a better mission codename. So, the Quest for Aelita's Missing Memory commenced following the end of another school day. The prospect of what was to be the final battle with the virus largely overshadowed the fact that this would also very likely be their last trip into the digital world. There would be little reason to keep the supercomputer running after reclaiming the lost recollection. And this initiative would surely keep electricity bills down.

November the first also turned out to be a mixed bag of sorts for Yumi. The good news was that she had won the 2006 Kadic's Best Halloween Costume Award for her rather attractive schoolgirl outfit. The bad news was that the honour made her feel just a tad more embarrassed by yesterday's Halloween happenings. It was blatantly obvious to her which group, or more specifically which _gender_ gave her a majority of the votes. Sure enough, some of her classmates snickered and whistled when her name was called out over the PA system.

However, the humiliation was soon replaced by excitement and satisfaction. The distinction came with a grandiose prize: two tickets to see U2's Vertigo Concert at the Charles-Ehrmann Stadium in Nice, France. In retrospect, an opportunity to see her favourite band perform live had made it quite worthwhile to dress provocatively for a day. Not that she would ever consider doing such a thing ever again.

"You know, maybe you should dress like that every Halloween," Odd suggested jokingly as they approached the factory.

"Just a random question Odd, but how much do you value your life?" Yumi asked with an unusual hint of sweetness that didn't quite reach her cold eyes.

That wiped the grin off the happiest man in the world. Angry Yumi didn't scare him as much as pissed-off Yumi.

"Ah, you want me to _fermez la bouche_, don't you?" he asked timidly.

"If you wouldn't mind," she replied through a small forced smile.

"Anyways, why didn't we wait for Bryan? I mean, we'll need his help, right?"

Ulrich could have sworn that as soon as the question left his lips, the temperature around him dropped several degrees. All eyes were fixed upon Aelita, who looked down sullenly and said nothing.

Jeremie hadn't told them of her argument with Bryan earlier that day, nor did he tell them about her risky plan to end it all. However, sensing Aelita's sensitivity to the situation, he spoke up hastily. "We couldn't find him anywhere after school."

In fact, none of them had seen him after their morning classes. And unlike the others, who had music in the afternoon, Bryan had opted to take programming and digital computation as his elective course, stating that learning the art of computer-speak would be quite useful to him.

"We can always call him if we run into trouble anyways," Jeremie added, though he was confident that Bryan's services wouldn't be required. Beside him, Aelita nodded quietly. They were only down one team member; it shouldn't be that bad.

"You know, something else has just occurred to me…"

"Oh no," Yumi moaned, rolling her eyes.

"What are we going to do about William?"

Everyone suddenly remembered that the cockiest teenager in the world still had to be freed from XANA's control.

"I mean, he's a bit of a douchebag and all, but we still have to bring him back right?"

Aelita was in deep thought over how to possibly liberate William. Defeating him in battle never worked, he would just fade into nothingness and reappear next time still possessed by XANA.

"Hmm, would it be possible to dig up the Scyphozoa's code from previous encounters?"

As usual, only Jeremie's eyes lighted up several seconds later, having fully comprehended her suggestion.

"Maybe…"

"Maybe what?"

"Well, you know how the Scyphozoa tries to take Aelita's memories? I might be able to create a similar program to remove XANA's data from William instead."

"That sounds plausible, I guess."

"I'm pretty sure a search of the recent archives should give me all the code I need. Essentially, I'll just specify different parameters – namely changing the target – input the program onto one of your weapons and when it comes in contact with William, it will start the data removal process."

"You know, sometimes I'm glad we have an Einstein on our team."

"Wait, so why hasn't this issue been brought up until now?"

"Well, to be honest it hadn't really crossed my mind, with everything that's been going on lately," Jeremie admitted. "Plus, I've kind of grown accustomed to our literal, not-too-full-of-himself spectre."

"Ditto," Ulrich nodded approvingly while Yumi chuckled.

Within ten minutes, Aelita, Odd, Ulrich and Yumi had been transported inside Sector V: CARTHAGE – the nucleus of the digital world. Back in the control room, Jeremie had already started working on the dispossession program and was also consulting with Franz Hopper's logbook to pinpoint the location of Aelita's memory fragment.

"So Jeremie, you know the whereabouts of the memory, right?"

"I'm pretty sure. Apparently, the fragments are in a section of CARTHAGE that we've never been to yet."

"Really? The place never looked that big to me from the outside," Odd remarked.

"If I'm not mistaken, it's in the sublevels. Up until now we've always bypassed the Core and headed up to the database. And there's more. Apparently, this area was originally intended house large programs, including XANA."

* * *

><p><strong>AELITA<strong>

Today, the Core was like a large anechoic chamber. A maze-like configuration of blocks and walls awaited them. Unlike previous trips to Sector V, there were no monsters coming out of hidden partitions.

Jeremie double-checked for any activated Towers, but they all lay dormant.

_So XANA hasn't detected us yet…this is good_.

"Right then, three minutes to find the switch," he said as the countdown began.

It wasn't long before Yumi spotted the small button on the ledge of a high wall and began leaping acrobatically from one platform to another. The others continued to remain alert for any signs of movement.

With ninety seconds to spare, Yumi had crossed the final walkway and scaled along the wall, before pressing her palm against the circular switch. This time, the room reconfigured itself as if it could sense the group's intentions. The walls and partitions folded up and collapsed downwards, revealing a new winding staircase leading beneath the Core.

"Well there's something you don't see every day," muttered Odd.

"So we follow this path?"

Jeremie quickly consulted his virtual map. "Yes, it shouldn't be that much further."

As the LYOKO warriors headed down to the sublevels of Sector V, their surroundings grew darker. The only noise came from four pairs of footsteps and the faint buzzing of data that was being streamed to the other sectors of LYOKO. Upon reaching the bottom of the staircase, they got a better view of XANA's base of operations.

It had more or less the same decorum as the central Core area. The only difference was that there were more blocks, walkways and rectangular panels, some of which were spread apart by crevices revealing the blue backdrop outside of the spherical CARTHAGE superstructure. On one of the taller platforms was a Way Tower that currently had a sky-blue aura around it.

Aelita's eyes immediately darted towards the middle of the chamber, where a glowing white ball was sitting atop a small square landing. It was almost as if it was beckoning her.

"Jeremie…is that?" she asked, pointing at the glowing sphere.

"Yes. That should be your missing memory fragment. In fact, it matches the data on your avatar."

"Still, something just isn't right," started Yumi, who had been uneasy from the beginning the switch was deactivated.

"What do you mean?" asked Odd.

"Doesn't this all seem…a bit _too_ easy?"

This was a common thought shared by the others. An unguarded hideout was not what they had in mind, especially for XANA. And then there was Aelita's memory, hanging right out in the open.

Then again, most conflicts and horror movies start off with an unnerving tranquility.

"Well, I think it's a trap. Let's just get the memory and get out of here. I mean, I like the peace of mind atmosphere and all, but this place gives me the creeps."

"I second that. Everyone form a perimeter around Aelita," instructed Jeremie, who had beads of sweat starting to form around his neck. His eyes darted from side to side of the computer as he tried to finish William's program and watch for any signs of XANA's monsters.

"You guys keep going, I'll cover you," said Odd as he leapt onto the top of a platform. The self-proclaimed professional sharpshooter's fingers hovered over his shooter as he beckoned the others onward towards the fragmented memory.

Aelita felt slightly anxious and excited. By reacquiring the missing pieces, she would finally be complete and this whole ordeal would be over. However, she was also slightly fearful of what her recollection contained.

She was highly skeptical that it contained any of her happy childhood moments – if there were any. Then again, it could provide the details that Aelita had been desperately searching for; the whereabouts of her mother and why she had ended up on LYOKO in the first place. Perhaps it could even provide some insight into the mysterious men in black suits she had been dreaming about.

With each step, she was closer to the centre of the chamber – closer to uncovering her past.

Aelita now had glowing pink spheres on the palms of her hands, which also served as an additional source of light in the darkened room.

Something just didn't seem right.

But it was Ulrich who felt it first.

* * *

><p><strong>ULRICH<strong>

It was as if he had treaded over an invisible line; a sudden gust of wind passed through his whole body. And then the Way Tower turned bright red, as laser fire rained down from the landings above.

Aelita barely had enough time to expand the area of her energy field to fully shield herself, much less Ulrich and Yumi, who both swiftly drew out their weapons to deflect the oncoming assault.

"We've got company!" shouted Odd as he looked over his hiding spot and saw two Tarantulas. He adjusted his aim and fired two shots, but only managed to destroy one of the monsters. Suddenly, he was hit on the back. He turned around to see three teams of Hornets approaching, forcing him to abandon his sniping position.

The ground began to shake where Aelita, Ulrich and Yumi were standing. Ulrich quickly leapt to Aelita's platform before his broke off. Yumi attempted to do the same, but the ground she was on had already begun sinking. She leaped and managed to get one finger up to Ulrich's hand. But before he could affirm his grip, the force of gravity pulled her back down.

"Damn it," Ulrich cursed.

"I'm fine. I'll find my way back to you guys. Just keep going!" she yelled as she prepared to engage XANA's welcoming party of Creepers.

"I hate it when I'm right," muttered Ulrich as he made to attack the nearest monster. But it was quite difficult to select his first target; there were too many of them. The monsters had seemingly virtualized from nowhere, as Creepers, Mantas, Tarantulas, Krabs, Megatanks and Hornets surrounded his field of vision.

A Megatank rolled into position and shot its continuous beam at Ulrich. He angled his sword and although he was able to deflect the blast, it was still slowly pushing him back.

From the corner of his eye, he saw Aelita coming to his aid. She extended her palm at the monster. Ulrich thought a pink ball of energy would fly out, but instead a sharp snap of air was emitted, which caused the monster to roll backwards and fall into the abyss.

Aelita then summoned another energy ball and hurled it in front of her, while Ulrich unsheathed his second katana and concentrated on blocking shots from behind her. However, it was too overwhelming; some of the lasers were still going through, steadily chipping away at their life points.

"I don't think we can hold out against this," said Odd, who was firing arrows behind his back trying to shake off the pursuing Hornets and Mantas.

Jeremie sat frozen in shock. Odd was right, there was no possibility of lasting much longer against this many enemies. The entire screen was now lit with red blobs representing XANA's forces. How many were there? And more importantly, which objective should they prioritize? Deactivate the Tower or obtain Aelita's memory?

Then again, perhaps they should just wait another day. He had tried contacting Bryan via his mobile device, but only reached his voicemail. Meanwhile, the others were hopelessly outnumbered and the odds of accomplishing either objective were diminishing by the minute. They had already lost the element of surprise and now, XANA was in the driver's seat once again.

"Alright, I'm getting you guys out of there. Hang on."

Jeremie closed the partially-completed dispossession program and opened up the devirtualization code. He pressed 'enter', but nothing happened. The four LYOKO warriors were still in the digital world.

"Oh no," he groaned as an error message popped up.

"More bad news?"

"I can't devirtualize you guys. I think XANA's managed to alter the code or temporarily block the program from activating in CARTHAGE."

To make things worse, a dark cloud then manifested and hurtled towards Ulrich, sending him plummeting into an embankment below. William Dunbar materialized wielding his massive sword and sporting the cocky grin Ulrich despised with the utmost loathing.

_Ulrich vs. William, round two_.

* * *

><p><strong>YUMI<strong>

Having destroyed the last Creeper standing in her way, Yumi looked up to see where the others were. She saw Hornets and Mantas firing into a secluded platform overhead and hoped that Odd was holding out on his own.

She continued her way upwards, occasionally hiding behind large pillars to avoid being detected by XANA's monsters. She had never seen so many of them. Then again, this was XANA's homeworld after all.

Peeping up from behind a pillar, Yumi could see a massive build-up of Tarantulas and Krabs up ahead. She quickly ducked, hoping that they didn't see her. She began considering her limited options. There was almost certainly no way she could defeat all of them single-handedly, and she had no idea how many lay ahead of the blockade. Yumi then scanned her nearby surroundings. Her eyes rested on a towering block floating above her, which gave her an idea.

She put her dual fans away and instead placed her hands over her temple, focusing all her energy on envisioning the block falling on top of the monsters. Bit by bit, the chunk of terrain began to move.

Suddenly, Yumi sensed something creep up from behind. She opened her eyes while her hands instinctively went for her weapons. To her horror, she looked down and that her torso had already been sliced clean through. Her body began to disintegrate into transparent square bytes of data as she was devirtualized.

But before disappearing altogether from LYOKO, Yumi saw a brief glance of her attacker. Initially, she had assumed it to be William, but the hit was evidently from a laser blast. And upon closer inspection, both the figure and the sword it held were much leaner.

Jeremie was also surprised at how easily Yumi had been defeated by this new enigmatic opponent. Even his sensors didn't register anything; one moment Yumi still had sixty life points and then they had instantly dropped down to zero.

In addition, it was clear that XANA was using advanced tactics he had never seen before. Every action had a specific purpose and not a single move was wasted. Furthermore, when one of its monsters was destroyed, another would simply take its place.

"I – I'm going to try debugging the devirtualization program. But that'll take time."

"How long?" asked Aelita.

"I–" _don't know, _Jeremie wanted to say.

"–as fast as I can," he answered softly, his cracking voice barely audible.

Having been constantly on the move avoiding XANA's air force, Odd was struggling to find another well-hidden sniping position. He tried to spot Ulrich and Aelita and provide covering fire. "Can't we just self-devirtualize ourselves?"

"Y-yes. Try that," said Jeremie hopefully as he continued to troubleshoot the maligned program.

Aelita conjured up a pink sphere and pressed it against her chest. However, her life points didn't hit zero as they should when her energy beams make contact. Instead, they just dissipated.

"It didn't work," she muttered sombrely, before conjuring two more beams of energy to deflect oncoming laser fire.

_Don't tell me she's immune to her own powers…_

At the same time, Jeremie flipped open his phone and called Bryan's number again.

_Please pick up…_the boy prayed. After a minute, he heard a voice from the other end.

"_Hello. I'm currently unavailable to take your call. Feel free to leave a message after the tone_. _Cheers_."

_Voicemail again_. Jeremie sighed in frustration.

"I'll go see if I can find him," came Yumi's voice over his shoulder. She looked thoroughly exhausted.

Jeremie nodded weakly as Yumi patted him on the back reassuringly and took off. Deep down inside though – barring from a miracle – he knew that help would not arrive on time; just like when the Titanic plunged into the Atlantic all those years ago.

* * *

><p><strong>ULRICH<strong>

The Scyphozoa had been deployed once again in pursuit of its sole source of prey. It spotted Aelita amidst all of the lasers and glided towards the girl in pink, who looked back in modest alarm.

She flashed her hand over her wristwatch and a pair of white wings folded out of her back. However, as soon as she began to take flight, a couple of Mantas regrouped and started firing at her. One blast managed to clip her back and Aelita fell back down to the surface. As the Scyphozoa loomed closer, she conjured another ball of pink energy, before retracting it with a frown.

All of her powers were useless against it. Her energy beams would merely bounce off or be absorbed, while using the wind element would only push it back momentarily. And she had yet to learn to manipulate the fire and water elements she supposedly possessed, according to Bryan. Aelita wasn't even sure if that would inflict any damage to XANA's energy-resistant multi-tentacled agent.

There was only one option left: earth. Aelita knelt down on the ground and folded her hands as if in prayer. The surrounding rocks began to move and collapse around her, forming a protective physical barrier. That would buy her some time, but not for long; several of XANA's monsters had already started firing on the rock shield and bits were starting to chip off.

Below, Ulrich was duelling against Captain Cockshaw. The two exchanged slashes and parries at a lightning pace. Even with two katanas, William had no problem keeping up. And while Ulrich desperately looked for a critical hit to end it quickly, William seemed to be in fine form. It even seemed as though he was _amused_ and was just toying with him.

Ulrich engaged his super spring ability in an attempt to bypass his opponent. Unfortunately, William's smoke ball form was able to keep up and struck the yellow blur, as Ulrich reverted to his body form and stumbled. His main sword clattered several metres away from him.

William hurled another energy ball at him, forcing Ulrich to use his spare katana to block it. Seconds later William was back breathing down on him. He felt his energy draining away from him as his slender katana struggled to hold its own against the heavier Zweihander. Ulrich's moves were growing more and more sluggish.

He tried to fake a strike to William's chest, to which the possessed boy redirected his sword downwards with minimal effort. Sensing an opportunity, Ulrich instead focused his swing at his head. But at that moment, William sunk beneath the floor.

_This can't be good…_ thought Ulrich as his eyes tried to keep up with the trail of smoke.

That emerged right under him and made a sudden slashing movement.

* * *

><p><strong>JEREMIE<strong>

With an emphatic thrust of the Zweihander straight through Ulrich, a smug-looking WilliXANA cried out in victory.

Only Aelita and Odd were left, with the latter having only five life points remaining. Jeremie rubbed his head. It seemed hopeless and there was nothing he could do. Odd was virtually incapacitated and too far away to help Aelita. One more hit would surely devirtualize him, and there was no possible way he could go commando and take down a whole platoon of XANA's monsters to reach her in time.

Meanwhile, Aelita's protective barrier was slowly disintegrating. If nothing was done soon, the Scyphozoa would take away the remaining parts of Aelita's memory. And then…she would be nothing but a lifeless shell.

"You know, there is one way out of this," said Ulrich as he climbed out of the stairwell.

Jeremie turned around abruptly, wondering what Ulrich could be talking about.

_Huh? Yumi and Ulrich are out. Odd's done for, unless he can pull off a deus ex machina or something. And Bryan…well…where in the world was he?_

He was still waiting for Yumi's call or text with the three simple words. Not "I love you," of course – Ulrich would ensure the death of him – but more along the lines of "I've found him."

It was as if Ulrich could read Jeremie's mind. "Isn't there one more LYOKO warrior remaining – besides Bryan?"

The boy gulped. Perhaps there was one small glimmer of hope. Perhaps there was still a way to stop XANA. But he would have to overcome his greatest fear in order to do it. Jeremie felt a tingling sensation in his stomach. His body trembled as if it were begging to remain planted on the seat.

The Scanners were an irrational fear for Jeremie. He didn't know why, but coming into contact with them gave him an unpleasant sensation.

In previous dire situations, all he could do was stare hopelessly at the screen in front of him, waiting for a miracle. Jeremie was still holding on the belief that any moment Bryan would emerge from the doorway, and for once he would be relieved by his presence.

But he wasn't coming. There was no other alternative.

He would have to go to LYOKO himself.

After all, this was Aelita. The person he cared for the most. Even though it had been just over a year since they first met, albeit in different worlds, she had profoundly changed him for the better. And now Jeremie was about to lose her, which was simply unacceptable.

Besides, XANA obtaining the Keys would definitely not bode well for the rest of the world as well. Global domination was never a good thing.

"Jeremie, we're running out of time!" Ulrich's pleading voice brought the boy back into reality.

"I–"

_Have no choice._

Jeremie gulped as he got out of his seat. He could sense his body resisting, but his mind prevailed. Was he feeling confident? Not in the slightest. But he knew what he had to do.

He paused as he stood beside Ulrich.

"You know how to initiate the virtualization program, right?" he asked Ulrich quietly.

"Yeah. And Jeremie?"

"Yes?"

"Good luck."

In the scanner room, Jeremie's heart was racing once again. His hands felt clammy and negative thoughts filled his head once more.

_I can do this_, Jeremie said to himself as he stood in front of one of the Scanners. With each step forward though, a part of him still wanted to turn back, hoping that this was merely a dream.

With a deep breath, he shut his eyes and walked forward.

And hit the wall. Rubbing his forehead, he opened his eyes to find that he had embarrassingly missed the cylindrical machine entirely.

This time, he felt the entrance of the Scanner before stepping in. The scanner doors closed softly behind him with a faint 'swish'. There was nothing to hold on to, so with his eyes shut and ears plugged, Jeremie braced for the transfer into the digital world.

* * *

><p>One of the reasons Ulrich and Odd both thought that Jeremie's LYOKO form was utterly ridiculous was due to the phenomenon known as the generation gap. In fact, had the LYOKO warriors been high school students during the 1980's, his outfit would have actually been considered very in-fashion and generate feelings of envy.<p>

Jeremie's avatar was still in its original design. After all, since he had previously vowed to never step foot on virtual soil ever again, there was no point in modifying his LYOKO avatar.

He was dressed in a full grey jump suit that had glowing blue neon lines that highly resembled a circuitry pattern. He also sported a helmet with matching blue strips and a light blue transparent visor. From his point of view, it was as if he had never left his seat in the control room. His range of vision was further supported by two virtual screens on his visor located on either side of his eyes, streaming various data, including his life points and a visual map of the surrounding area.

In terms of weaponry, Jeremie was similar to Yumi in that he possessed armaments that could be used for both close-combat fighting and as a long-range projectile. Strapped to the back of his suit was a slender doughnut-shaped disk.

An _Identity Disc_, just like in the movie _Tron_. Then again, it came as little surprise to Jeremie since Kevin Flynn's 'digital frontier' was what he had always compared the world of LYOKO to.

Jeremie still harboured feelings of nervousness and uncertainty. He had never tested his LYOKO powers, nor did he know his full potential. On Earth, he was far from being considered even marginally athletic and rarely demonstrated any sort of physical prowess. And yet, he was now being pressed into battle against an opponent that had made short work of two well-seasoned combatants in Ulrich and Yumi.

Nevertheless, he knew that he would have to overcome the enormous odds and obstacles. And he had already passed the first hurdle of getting to LYOKO in one piece.

_Aim for the eyes_, Jeremie reminded himself.

As he ran through the narrow corridor of Sector V, he noticed how much lighter and faster he was. He couldn't remember the last time he ran such distances without collapsing, but on LYOKO it didn't feel exhaustive at all. But never mind any of that; only one thought raced through Jeremie's head.

He was Aelita's last hope. And he hoped that he wasn't too late.

* * *

><p><strong>Fragmented Legacy Fun Fact 016:<strong>

Conveniently, Yumi's favourite rock band was really on a worldwide concert tour that ran from March 2005 to December 2006. However, their performance in Nice took place on August 2005, and by November 2006 they were in Australia for the last leg of their tour. But, rather than give Yumi the opportunity to skip school and have a summer vacation in the Land Down Under, the dates were changed for this fictional instalment.

* * *

><p><strong>A|N's:<strong>

Chapter XVI is finally out! A couple of weeks ago, I went to see Pixar's "Brave", a movie that I had wanted to watch since the trailer came out last year. It was amazing. Incidentally, it is also the title for this chapter, in which Jeremie assumes a more active role in Team LYOKO. As always, thanks for reading Code LYOKO: Fragmented Legacies =)


	17. Death of a Dream, death of a Princess

**17: Death of a Dream, death of a Princess**

* * *

><p><strong>BRYAN<strong>

**_Earlier that day…_**

_He was still sitting in his room staring blankly at the wall after Aelita had stormed out. But he made no attempt of getting up and running after his friend._

_Or should he say, former friend. According to her, they were no longer acquaintances._

_"I – I thought I could trust you."_

_"Well, I guess you thought wrong then, didn't you?" he replied coldly, still not meeting her fiery gaze._

_So many emotions were racing across Aelita's mind at the same time. She had come to Bryan in search of comfort. He had always seemed so understanding. After all, he was the one who reminded her that everything will always work out in the end._

_However, when it mattered most, it looked like there were exceptions to this principle._

_On the other hand, Bryan's face had turned pale as he fell completely silent. He felt a sudden desire to hit Aelita and make her feel pain. To get her to admit that she was wrong and take back the hurtful words that had come out of her mouth._

_At the same time, he was rendered speechless and his thoughts were all clouded up. Furthermore, Aelita's words appeared to have taken a mental toll on him. He felt as if he had aged several years, which was reflected by the dull and deflated look of his eyes._

_Words do hurt. Emotional intelligence was never Bryan's strong suit. Arguing with a girl was not his forte either._

_In the end, perhaps Aelita was right and he was wrong. She had a right to know that her father – Waldo Schaeffer – had entrusted her with the task of maintaining order and stability on LYOKO, which included keeping XANA at bay. But would she have taken the news any differently than if he had told her when they first met?_

_Nevertheless, it was already too late. What was the point of going after her? Even if she allowed him to speak, she would only go back on the defensive and take a stab at what he had to say. Besides, telling her everything he knew wouldn't be that helpful either. She hadn't taken the bad news well, so telling her about the more dreadful news was unlikely to boost her mood._

_In addition, Bryan wasn't entirely sure of his facts. A lot of it was still pure speculation work as he had only been assigned this project for a relatively short period of time. And feeding incorrect information to the others would undoubtedly have disastrous consequences. XANA was already proving to be a handful. And after several trips to the virtual world, Bryan had a feeling that the virus wasn't even at its maximum potential yet._

_Then there was the fabled organization that both Aelita and Jeremie strongly believed to have existed and played an important, if not antagonistic role in the former's childhood and Project CARTHAGE itself._

_The 'Men in Black'…really now…_

_Nazi Germany had tried to fight on two separate fronts during the Second World War, against the Allies in the West and the Soviet Union in the East. It didn't go too well for them. In retrospect, having six…no, seven high school students engaging two formidable foes simultaneously was clearly not a feasible option._

_Still, Bryan was determined not to leave Kadic empty-handed; there was still something he had to do. There was one source that would very likely be able to provide him with the information he required to proceed with his…mission. How he would go about acquiring its services was a completely different story._

_His cell phone suddenly started vibrating. At first, Bryan was still too furious at Aelita – and at himself – to care. After the fifth vibration, he became slightly agitated with his phone as well. He took it out of his pocket and was about to chuck it to the opposite corner of the room, when his eyes settled upon a familiar name on the caller display._

_Bryan picked up._

_"Valerie," he said a little too icily to his old friend. The girl on the other end was slightly taken aback by both the cold tone and the fact that Bryan had rarely ever called her by her full first name when they exchanged greetings._

_"Sorry. Is this the wrong time?"_

_"Umm…no, it's fine. I'm just getting ready for class."_

_"Is something wrong?" she asked with a voice full of concern._

_She's definitely psychic__, Bryan said to himself. Then again, Valerie knew him all too well._

_"Nothing I can't handle," he replied in an attempt to regain his typical calm demeanour._

_Valerie chuckled on the other end. "That's good. Anyways, the main reason why I'm calling is because I have some urgent news."_

_Bryan tensed up once more. The morning had only just begun and he already felt like he had been put through the wringer._

_"I think I've found a match from…_that _incident you were talking about. They might be coming."_

_The boy's expression hardened. Everything was happening too soon. He was by no means ready._

_And now he was also running out of time._

* * *

><p><strong>ODD<strong>

Three Mantas glided past a string of crevices, searching for their final target.

Below, with his back lying vertically against the wall, Odd Della Robia breathed a sigh of relief when the monsters passed over him. He dared not communicate with Ulrich, and hoped that his friend would do the same. While this meant that he was without guidance or navigation, at least he wouldn't risk giving his current location away.

With the coast clear, he leapt to across to a higher landing and raised his head slightly. In the centre of the chamber, he could make out William standing next to the Scyphozoa, which swooped down and attached its long tentacles to either sides of Aelita's head, and her body instantly stiffened. Her lost memory continued to float above her, outside of her grip…

It had begun.

Odd knew that he could never get to Aelita in time. Even if he could, he was impossibly outnumbered, not that he was any good with close-range combat in the first place. Besides, he only had three arrows remaining. And he didn't have the life points to spare anyways; he guessed that he had five to ten remaining. He wouldn't manage to get one foot closer to her without getting devirtualized.

So that left him with only one option. And if he failed then it'd be all over, for him and Aelita.

For the first time in like, forever, Odd was not in carefree anti-serious mode.

He directed his shooter at the Scyphozoa, whose tentacles were now glowing red as it took in Aelita's recollections. However, it was more or less a rough approximation, since he was too far from it to have a clear shot.

He had to either cut off the Scyphozoa's tentacles or devirtualize Aelita. The latter was probably out of the question. The Scyphozoa had already begun draining Aelita's memories; if he sent her back into the real world, she would exist without the memories that also served as her lifespan…

Of course, the other alternative had an even lower chance of success. The narrow tentacles were undoubtedly a more difficult target, assuming that his arrows were able to make contact with the monster without interference from William or XANA's other monsters. And once Aelita was free of the Scyphozoa's grip, she would still be surrounded by enemy forces.

One shot was definitely not enough to pierce the two tentacles connected into Aelita's temple. Odd could fire all three of his remaining arrows simultaneously for a better chance of success, but he would also have to factor in the Scyphozoa's movement once it sensed that it was under attack.

And as soon as he fired his projectiles, XANA would know his exact location and make short work of the unarmed feline.

This was an all-or-nothing moment. Oddly enough, Odd never would've guessed that it would fall upon him again to save the day.

He placed his left hand over his right arm as he locked in, and to stop himself from shaking. Had he ever felt this nervous or been under this much pressure?

_Concentrate…_

He pressed down to fire.

Odd didn't even have a chance to see if his arrows had made impact. A Manta gliding overhead had spotted him and fired two swift rounds, wiping out the last of his life points.

However, another pair of eyes was able to see the result. Staring intently at the computer screen in front of him, Ulrich was dismayed to see that Odd's avatar had reverted back to its grey inactive state – he had been devirtualized.

But Aelita's memories continued to decline.

Odd's final attack had missed, though narrowly. The arrows took down a pair of Tarantulas right next to the Scyphozoa, which was of little significance in this situation.

And then there were none.

Or so XANA had thought.

* * *

><p><strong>JEREMIE<strong>

Jeremie Belpois was growing quite fond of his LYOKO regalia.

It had never felt this…_cool_ the previous several times he set foot in the digital world. Then again, it was probably Ulrich and Odd, who couldn't comprehend the awesomeness that was to be a Tron lookalike.

He had everything at his disposal. His visor was constantly relaying data back to him, including his life points, current location and a map with red dots to highlight XANA's whereabouts. In some ways, they served as an extra pair of eyes.

If it wasn't for his phobia of entering the scanners, Jeremie would have frequently visited LYOKO just to test and tweak his outfit and abilities. But now was certainly not the time. He was on a rescue mission.

He had just reached the Core zone. This time, it did not rearrange itself into a maze-like configuration, leaving a straight path to the staircase which led to the chamber underneath. A pop-up suddenly appeared on the left side of Jeremie's field of vision, as if it was able to read the boy's thoughts.

_Upload vehicle_?_

_Uh…sure_, thought Jeremie. A list then expanded, revealing the three vehicular options. Again, Jeremie inputted his answer mentally and a baton materialized in the palm of his hand.

_I know what to do with this_, the boy who had seen Tron several times muttered as he broke off into a sprint and leapt. The baton began transforming, growing larger until it assumed the shape of Yumi's OverWing. In Jeremie's opinion, it was not only the safest of the three modes of transport; it also closely resembled his scooter, so he assumed that it wouldn't be too difficult to operate.

Jeremie continued on his way to confront XANA at a faster pace. But what would happen then? How could one untested LYOKO warrior possibly emerge victorious against XANA, when the other three seasoned members of the group had failed?

* * *

><p>Tron's Legacy finally made his way down into the dark sublevel of CARTHAGE. Jeremie's visor provided ample light for him to see a chamber sector teeming with monsters, most of which were concentrated at the centre of the chamber.<p>

From a distance, Jeremie could see the Scyphozoa slowly draining Aelita's life force. It looked even more sickening than when he saw it on the supercomputer. And oOnce her memory content reached zero…well, Jeremie didn't want to think about that.

He didn't have time to fight his way to the centre of the chamber. There was no point in concealing himself and trying to find loopholes in XANA's defence. Jeremie decided to simply travel straight into the heart of XANA's forces, incapacitate the Scyphozoa and escape with Aelita. It was all he could do. And it had to work.

As a precaution, Jeremie took out his Identity Disc from his back and activated it. It glowed blue and began humming softly. However, he passed by several Mantas and Hornets without a single shot being fired. The monsters merely appeared to acknowledge his presence, before moving on.

What were they waiting for?

Aelita was coming closer into view.

_66%...come on, Jeremie, you're running out of time_, muttered Ulrich, as Odd emerged behind him, shoulders drooped.

"I missed, didn't I?"

Ulrich affirmed Odd's suspicions and patted him on the back. He could hardly fault his friend for trying. Even the most professional of snipers probably wouldn't have been able to land a hit from that distance.

"Any word from Yumi?"

"No. By the looks of it, it's…not looking that good," Ulrich replied bitterly. There was nothing he could do, besides staring at the screen in front of him, hoping that Jeremie would make it through and had a sound strategy for saving Aelita.

Odd was sharing a similar sentiment. In all of their past adventures to LYOKO, he was never fearful of a mission going horribly wrong. Sure there were plenty of near-death experiences. But today…it was completely different. He felt so utterly useless, and put all of the blame on himself for failing to save Aelita. If he had made that shot…

"Couldn't we just program a return to the past?"

"Well, yes. But the Scyphozoa's in control of Aelita right now. What if Aelita's memories are fully removed before the program is executed? From what Jeremie said, her memories are like her lifeline. And if they are all gone…I don't think we can bring the deceased back to life, even if we do go back in time."

Odd sighed. At the bottom of the screen, only Jeremie's avatar profile remained active.

"Wait. Einstein…he's actually…"

"Yep."

"Hey… you don't think that Bryan has anything to with this?"

Ulrich looked back at Odd with skepticism. "What are you talking about?"

"I dunno. It seems fishy though doesn't it? He's not answering his cell. He got upset today when Aelita went to see him…"

Ulrich shook his head in disbelief over what Odd was suggesting. After all, there was no interpersonal value that he held more highly than trust.

"Bryan's always helped us out. He fought with us against XANA too, you know. And I told you guys that we should've gotten in touch with him before we went along with this operation."

Odd looked taken aback. "Sorry, I wasn't implying it like that. I mean, he's a good friend and all. I just feel like there's still so much we don't know about him, like he's holding something back from us."

Ulrich remained silent.

"I think I'll go to look for him as well, it's the most I can do now," added Odd. "After all, two heads are better than one."

"Okay. Good luck," said Ulrich nodding in agreement.

"Who needs luck when you have eyes that can find Waldo in three seconds?" he scoffed, though revealing a fraction of a grin as well, before taking off.

Even Ulrich had a small smile unfurling on his lips.

_Typical Odd. Being able to joke around in a dire situation like this…_he said to himself, before turning his attention back to Jeremie and his ridiculous LYOKO outfit.

* * *

><p><strong>BRYAN<strong>

Bryan Green really was an international man of mystery (IMoM).

No, he wasn't related to fellow IMoM Austin Powers, whose actor was also coincidentally a Canadian. Nor was he of British descent, although he did have a handy British accent in his cultural repertoire, albeit a terrible one at that.

But there was just so much about him that intrigued his friends.

His sky-blue hair for instance, to which he insisted was all natural and that he had never dyed his hair.

And it was this unique feature, coupled with sheer luck that Yumi Ishiyama was able to spot him before she was going to look inside the large school building.

He was outside swinging a tennis racket and having fun.

_Of course_, thought Yumi gritting her teeth despite having completed her objective. She distinctly remembered Bryan joining the tennis club last month, which met after school every Wednesday.

He was currently involved in a furious rally with a boy from Yumi's class. Every shot seemed to go by in a blur as eyes darted back and forth. Yumi tried to find some way to signal Bryan, but he was too focused on the set point to notice. It wasn't until he smacked a powerful forehand shot that unfortunately flew straight into the net, that his attention was redirected.

"Aww…nice try, Bryan. By the way, I think Yumi's looking for you," said Catherine casually on the court adjacent to him. Her hair still had traces of green dye from the previous night, but she was still amazingly pretty. Indeed, one of the reasons why there were actually spectators during tennis practice was because of her, and not the anticipation of someone trying to reproduce Federer's between-the-legs shot.

Drenched in sweat, Bryan turned around, his eyes widened in surprise.

"Oh. Yumi," he said, panting.

Yumi's mouth wanted to explode into a tirade of things she wanted to say: that a LYOKO warrior's life was currently on the line, why Bryan hadn't picked up his mobile when Jeremie called and where he had been the whole day. But she managed to condense the main point into three words.

"Aelita's in trouble."

For a split-second, Bryan appeared indifferent.

_Good. She got what she deserved. _He then quickly worked out that Yumi wasn't talking about minor trouble, such as detention. It was clearly something else. And Bryan had a gut feeling what that something was…

"XANA?" he asked quietly. Yumi nodded.

"We thought we could get her memory back ourselves. But XANA set a trap for us and –"

_Well, this is much…quicker I anticipated._ Trying his best to forget about his fight with Aelita that morning, Bryan headed off to the benches.

"Alright, I'm gonna go get my stuff," he said briskly while Yumi nodded and took out her cell phone to text the others.

Bryan then glanced upwards. The sky was of a rather sombre grey colour; rainfall was imminent and the wind was beginning to pick up. He frowned.

_I've got a bad feeling about this…_

* * *

><p><strong>JEREMIE<strong>

WilliXANA tilted his head lazily at the sight of Jeremie approaching him, as if he was evaluating on whether the LYOKO newcomer was a threat worth his time.

It turns out that Jeremie wasn't, as two Megatanks and a Tarantula were dispatched to confront him instead.

"Jeremie!" Ulrich's voice echoed throughout the sector.

The boy was visibly startled by the sudden announcement. But that could only mean one thing. "What is it?"

"Yumi. She's found Bryan. They're on their way."

A wave of relief rushed over him. However, the moment passed quickly. It would still take some time for Bryan to get into LYOKO. And by then, Aelita's memory might already be no more.

The game had changed. Deep down, Jeremie always knew that he couldn't possibly rescue Aelita on his own. His LYOKO powers, though he didn't know the full extent of them yet, were probably vastly inferior to Bryan's – who had taken down a platoon of monsters without any difficulty during his first trip to the digital world.

So now, the goal was to distract XANA long enough for Bryan to step in.

Jeremie held on to his disc even tighter as the monsters opened fire. He managed to dodge and deflect some of the lasers, but some managed to sneak through and take out twenty of his life points. And yet, Jeremie maintained his course towards the centre of the chamber.

More monsters gathered in front of him and prepared to fire. However, WilliXANA suddenly raised his hand and the monsters stood down. William then hurled a ball of energy at the OverWing.

Jeremie tried to swerve around the dark cloud, but it was coming too fast. The vehicle was instantly vaporized and he fell hard onto the surface, cracking a portion of his visor.

He got up slowly and from the corner of his eye, saw William calmly walking towards him. Behind him, the Scyphozoa continued to drain Aelita's memories. Through the still functioning part of his visor, Jeremie could see the memory content left in Aelita.

It was less than ten percent.

A red square in his field of vision locked on to the Scyphozoa. Jeremie hurled his disc in that general direction, hoping that it came equipped with homing capabilities to correct his dreadful aim. Sure enough, it curved and dipped, and was heading straight at its target.

Unfortunately, William stood in the way.

It was all over in an instant. He swiftly took out his sword and swung at the disc as if he was playing baseball. The projectile clattered several metres away, leaving Jeremie weaponless.

William came up to Jeremie, who tried lobbing a punch, which was easily stopped. He then grabbed Jeremie's shoulder roughly and the boy expected imminent devirtualization.

_I've…I've failed…_

But WilliXANA didn't slice through him with the Zweihander like he did with Ulrich. And it soon became clear why, as he forcefully turned him around so that Jeremie could personally witness Aelita's final moments.

Torture. XANA was good at that.

Jeremie wrestled and managed to break free of William's grip. He began rushing towards Aelita. But neither William nor XANA's other monsters bothered to stop him.

After all, there was nothing he could possibly do. The transfer was almost complete.

* * *

><p><strong>AELITA<strong>

Aelita Schaeffer was dying, although she was unaware of it herself. Her consciousness was beginning to return. It was like waking up from a very deep sleep, but instead of regaining her energy, she could feel herself getting weaker with every passing moment.

Although a bit fuzzy, her ears were still working. She heard quick-paced footsteps and with what remained of her dissipating strength, turned weakly to her side and struggled to open her eyes.

She saw a faint glimpse of someone approaching her. Aelita could make out certain features…

The boy looked very familiar.

Her lips tried to move, but it was no use. She could not make out his name in her head; her mind came up blank as her vision slowly faded back into nothingness. It felt like every part of her body was shutting down, she could no longer feel anything.

And with a rather mundane finality, Aelita's eyelids grew heavy and closed completely. Her body became limp and motionless.

"NO!" Jeremie yelled, which was also echoed by Ulrich back in the real world. The computer screen said it all, the bar representing Aelita's memory was empty, with the number zero flashing in bright red letters.

Without her chain of memories, Aelita ceased to exist.

Having fulfilled its objective, the Scyphozoa loosened its tentacles, before disappearing in a dark cloud of smoke. XANA's monsters followed suit, sinking into the ground. The last to depart was WilliXANA, whose face was barely able to contain his wide smug grin of achievement. He took one last glance at Jeremie, as if he was gloating.

_What will you do now, Belpois?_

Jeremie couldn't take it any longer. He felt his Identity Disc rematerialize in his hands and without waiting for a lock on his the targeting reticule, threw it at William with such force that it appeared to be sucking in its surroundings, gaining momentum. A small frown of concern sprouted on William's face, but just before the projectile could make impact, he vanished.

* * *

><p>It took an age for Aelita's body to fall back to the now-deserted sublevel of Sector V.<p>

Jeremie reached out in front of him just in time to cradle a lifeless Aelita in his arms. She felt incredibly light. This was the closest he had ever been in contact with her, and had the scenario been entirely different, Jeremie might have felt his cheeks turning red. If only tears were possible on LYOKO…

XANA had achieved a decisive victory. A large dark cloud suddenly emerged from the centre of the chamber. It shot upwards shaped like a large arrow before spreading out towards all four corners, before slowly fading into nothingness. XANA now possessed the Keys with which to gain its freedom from the supercomputer.

_So close…_

Back in the control room, Ulrich let out a soft groan. It seemed like a really bad nightmare. Aelita couldn't really be… He refused to use the d-word.

In fact, she looked as though she was resting peacefully, just like when Jeremie first found her in one of the Way Towers a little over a year ago. Jeremie gently shook Aelita's feeble body, holding onto the chance that she was really was merely asleep – that perhaps XANA had left a margin of a percent of her memory.

But that wasn't the case. This time, the slumber was eternal.

It wasn't supposed to end like this.

Back at Kadic, the other students would be in the cafeteria enjoying their evening meal. Some would discuss their day's events, spread gossip and complain how much homework they still had to do. And yet, they would remain completely oblivious to the fact that they won't see one of their classmates – and for some, one of their friends – ever again.

Aelita was gone, just like the hope and optimism that had accompanied Team LYOKO earlier that day.

* * *

><p><strong>Fragmented Legacy Fun Fact 017:<strong>

Jeremie's LYOKO form is finally revealed! In the TV series, I remember Ulrich and Odd teasing him for his outfit, so at first I imagined him as some sort of wizard with a pointed hat, starry cloak and a long white beard of wisdom. But then I thought of the movie _Tron _due to the similarities to the Code Lyoko universe, as well as being slightly less embarrassing for Jeremie. Other concepts I considered included giving Jeremie a projectile-based weapon like Odd (but firing floppy disks instead), or some sort of large tablet with which he can use any LYOKO ability - including those of XANA's monsters. But that power sort of already belongs to someone else =)

* * *

><p><strong>A|N's:<strong>

Well, it's been a year since I've started working on Code LYOKO: Fragmented Legacies. And what an adventure that has been! In light of this milestone, I'll be reformatting/editing some of the older chapters in the next couple of weeks; the content will of course remain the same.

I also found out that this story has won a Carthage Award for 2012 on Xana's Lair. I am really beyond words (literally) =D. I haven't been writing for very long and this is the first time I've written something that wasn't for school. And so, I'd like to take this opportunity to thank the judges and everyone who has read this story, and to those who have provided support and feedback. You all really inspire me to do my best, and the best is yet to come!

I know I haven't kept up with updating this summer and I apologize for that. As far as this story is concerned, I'm only halfway into the second 'season' (no, it's not over even though Aelita's gone…). I also think that this is the point where the story really starts to take off from the original TV series, so stay tuned! And as always, thanks for reading Code LYOKO: Fragmented Legacies =)


	18. After the battle

**18: After the battle**

* * *

><p>Aelita Schaeffer<br>_b: December 24, 1984 – November 1, 2006_

Gone Too Soon.

_And with a rather mundane finality, Aelita's eyelids grew heavy and her green eyes saw no more. Her body became limp and motionless as it plummeted back down towards the surface of LYOKO._

Some say that right before we die, we see our life flash before our eyes; a visual spectacle showcasing the highlights of our time on planet Earth.

However, Aelita didn't experience such a thing. She couldn't. Her life force was unique, intricately linked to her recollections. And thanks to XANA, she had none remaining to draw upon.

She was the one who was destined to save the world from the remnants of her past. And perhaps…even change it for the better.

But now, the girl with bright pink hair who was fittingly nicknamed 'Princess' by her closest friends was gone, leaving behind one final lingering sentiment.

_What happens now?_

* * *

><p><strong>JEREMIE<strong>

The scanner doors opened and the rookie LYOKO warrior stepped out. Jeremie emerged thoroughly exhausted. Yet, it wasn't just the physical toll of going into the digital world. A hollow feeling resided within his stomach. His face was completely sullen as he saw Ulrich approaching him, sporting a similar deflated look.

Jeremie saw Ulrich approaching, but he chose to ignore him as he pondered over everything that had transpired. Sulking would not bring Aelita back, but he didn't really feel motivated to do anything else at the moment.

_Even after all that._

He had finally plucked up the courage to venture into LYOKO in a last-ditch rescue attempt, he had nothing to show for it. XANA had taken care of Aelita, permanently. The person he cared for the most, who spun his world on a whole different axis, was no more. What else needed to be said?

If only he had been quick enough to save Aelita from the Scyphozoa. If only he had gone into the virtual world previously to master his LYOKO form's powers and abilities. If only he had been able to decode the devirtualization program faster. If only…

If only he hadn't been so reckless. He had completely underestimated XANA and played right into its hands. Not even a return to the past could rectify this situation.

Ulrich was at a loss of words and comfort himself. However, his attention shifted when he heard the sound of the elevator coming down to the floor above him.

"That'll be Yumi. We have to go up and tell her and Bryan about what happened."

_Bryan_.

A bit of Jeremie's grief had begun transforming back into frustration.

Had Bryan shown up, could the outcome have been different? In a way, Jeremie was still partly to blame. He should have consulted with Bryan first instead of leaving him out of the starting lineup for the mission. Of course, he had been even more polarized towards the enigmatic exchange student, given recent events.

Bryan had fought with Aelita earlier during the day – Jeremie reasoned with himself – and he didn't want the animosity between the two to have any impact on their mission to retrieve the missing memory fragment. Furthermore, he felt as if he should be protecting Aelita; Bryan had hurt her enough, to the point where she had considered taking her own life.

Nevertheless, when Jeremie did try to get in touch with him – numerous times – he received no response. Bryan had a mobile, so why was he ignoring his calls? Unless…

_He wanted this to happen. He wanted to remove Aelita from the picture, remove her from the equation…_

That could potentially be the case. Could Bryan have planned this all along, to have only pretended to be allied against XANA? Was it all just an act? He had to admit, Bryan's intentions were still quite unclear. He needed to get to the bottom of this.

Jeremie nodded silently and slowly got up. He didn't know what to tell the others when they asked about Aelita. And subsequently, the thought of this inevitability led his mind back to square one – he had just lost a dear friend. The emptiness and anguish churned within him, a notion that just wouldn't go away.

How long has it been since he had experienced this much sorrow.

* * *

><p><strong>BRYAN<strong>

Bryan's bad feeling got worse when he and Yumi came across Odd in the sewers.

_"Hey!" Yumi called out as she skidded to a stop on her skateboard. Odd was initially startled, but upon seeing who she had brought with her, looked slightly relieved._

_"Yumi's filled me in. What's the latest?" Bryan asked as he also came to a stop._

_"I'll tell you along the way," Odd replied as he made a u-turn._

_"We've got a big problem. XANA's taken out everyone, except Jeremie. The Scyphozoa's closing in fast."_

_"Wait, Jeremie's inside?" said Yumi incredulously. Odd nodded, noticing that Bryan showed no sign of worry or panic like the others. _

_On the other hand however, the inner mechanisms of his mind were working at a furious pace, analyzing the situation and its consequences._

They made it to the abandoned factory in no time and found the control room empty. There was no sign of Aelita, Jeremie, or Ulrich anywhere. Bryan turned to look at the computer screen, and that one glance told him everything he needed to know.

"Where's–" Odd began, but he didn't need to finish as Jeremie and Ulrich came up looking grave. Aelita wasn't with them.

"No…" breathed Yumi, her face breaking down into a mixture of disbelief and sadness. She didn't make it back in time.

For once, there was no sign of reassurance from Odd, who looked equally as shocked and as everyone else. This simply couldn't be happening.

"She…she's gone," Jeremie said so softly as if mumbling to himself. He tried to stop the tears from welling up in his eyes.

Bryan's expression was inscrutable. He felt as if he was the odd one out. After all, he had only been at Kadic for two months, and had not assisted with the retrieval of Aelita's memories. However, he could tell that the others took the news very hard.

"Look guys, I'm really–"

"It's all because of you," Jeremie suddenly snapped at him, trying to put as much venom into that statement. How could he still appear so calm and apologetic?

"We could have really used your help," Ulrich added sombrely.

"I – I'm sorry. I–"

"Well, sorry's not going to bring back Aelita, now will it?" retorted Jeremie. Bryan looked completely taken aback.

"Jeremie geez, calm down. It's not his fault. It's no one's fault. We never knew that…that…" even Odd was struggling to come up with the right words.

_That XANA would completely undress us_.

"Speak for yourself, Odd. Even you didn't fully trust–"

Yumi decided to intervene. While Bryan was still partially responsible in her opinion, it wasn't completely fair for him to bare flak from everyone. "Ulrich, that's enough. Jeremie, it's partly my fault as well. I wasn't quick enough–"

"You're still defending him?" Jeremie asked Yumi angrily, before turning back to the blue-haired teenager.

"Why didn't you pick up your mobile?"

"I – uh…" Bryan fished out a cell phone from his pant pockets. _This was somewhat embarrassing, _he thought to himself before answering: "forgot to turn it on," he muttered.

_Seriously_? Jeremie rolled his eyes and let out a derisive laugh. The whole point of owning a cell phone was so that a constant line of communication could be maintained; so why should it ever be turned off? Common sense! This was an unacceptable excuse, especially for someone who should've definitely known better.

"You're a member of this group, Bryan. You have a responsibility to always be ready to help out. We tried to get in touch with you several times and you didn't pick up. That being said…" Ulrich turned over to Jeremie, expecting him to explain why he didn't make more of an effort to reach Bryan, or at least postpone the mission.

Bryan rubbed the back of his head. He had been an idiot and he knew it. This was all because of a bad habit that he had developed a while back – and he had already been reprimanded for it several times.

"So, let me ask you this, whose side are you really on?" Jeremie questioned further.

"I beg your pardon?"

* * *

><p>Jeremie's accusatory tone caught Bryan's attention. Up until now he had been keeping his comments to himself. He agreed that Jeremie was right, in many ways similar to how Aelita had been right earlier during the day.<p>

It wasn't right to have left her out of the loop, especially regarding her own personal information. However, he also anticipated that once Aelita figured that she was 'the Key', there would be some sort of fallout. In that sense, it was his fault.

He was supposed to protect her, and he didn't even show up. And that was all the difference. Nevertheless, to have all of the blame and mistrust placed on him for the loss of Aelita – as if the others weren't at fault for their failures – that was a bit of a stretch.

"Are you helping XANA?" asked Jeremie.

"You're kidding, right?" retorted Bryan.

"Why else wouldn't you answer your phone?"

"I told you, I had it turned off."

"Sure," Jeremie scoffed.

"Look, it's a bad habit of mine, I admit it. But I had no idea that you guys were planning to go into LYOKO. Why didn't you tell me?" he shot back at Jeremie.

"Where were you during lunch and after classes?" Jeremie countered.

"You're avoiding the question!"

"Kind of what you did to Aelita earlier this morning, isn't it?"

Bryan opened his mouth, but nothing came out. Jeremie's got him there.

"So, what…actually happened?" asked Yumi softly. She wanted to hear the details from another perspective.

"They had a bit of an argument," he said testily, still staring daggers at Bryan.

Ulrich remembered seeing her looking glum throughout the day. _So that's what it was all about_.

"What did you and Aelita talk about earlier today?"

"…Nothing," mumbled Bryan, clearly trying to avoid the touchy subject.

"You sure? Because she certainly didn't seem like herself after she went to see you. And you know what she did after? She tried to kill herself!"

Yumi and Odd gasped. Bryan's eyebrows narrowed.

"You never told us that, Jeremie," said Ulrich.

"Well, it was a highly sensitive subject," he muttered. "Aelita didn't want you guys to find out."

Bryan sighed. "Alright. Yes, we had a disagreement. She thought I knew that she held the Keys to LYOKO, which is why XANA has been after her all this time."

"Did you know?"

"As soon as I found out that she could deactivate Towers, yes."

"So why didn't you tell her when you first arrived?"

"Do you believe that she would have taken the news any differently? I was like a complete stranger to her at the time; I probably would've made the situation a whole lot worse. You don't expect positive reception after telling someone the truth about their existence."

Odd shifted uncomfortably. "Still, that's not like her."

"She was really upset after learning about it during breakfast," Jeremie recalled. "Aelita didn't want to put any of us in any more danger. XANA was only after her, and the reason why we're keeping the supercomputer active is because of her as well."

"By the way, we tried to get a hold of you during lunch and after school. We couldn't find you anywhere," added Yumi.

Bryan looked puzzled as he attempted to retrace his steps.

"Oh, right. I was finishing up my programming assignment in my room during lunch, since I left my laptop there. And tennis started earlier today, so I left class a couple minutes before the bell to change. You can ask Melanie and Catherine if you don't believe me. I walked past them both times," he added hastily to convince Jeremie of his alibi.

"Look, I know whatever I say isn't going to bring Aelita back. But right now, we've got an even bigger problem. I'm still trying to understand the whole situation. Has XANA ever tried to kill Aelita before? Say, either in the real world or on LYOKO?"

"Not…really. It's come close several times though, and we've been seeing a lot of the Scyphozoa recently as well."

"But each of those times, you four were able to repulse XANA though, right"

"For about a year now," said Ulrich. Up until now, they had never truly lost a battle or confrontation against the malevolent computer program.

Bryan was startled. Everything was starting to come together. How could he have not seen this coming? There was no way a group of teenagers could have survived against XANA for a year, unless it hadn't been operating at its full potential.

And he knew exactly why. He swore silently to himself. "I think all of this is…because of me. Me being here."

"I'm sorry?"

"Think about it. You've been up against a computer program that gets smarter with every passing second. No offense or anything, but there's no way that all of its activities on LYOKO and the real world could have been thwarted, especially if it has been attacking as frequent as you have previously described. And Yumi said that XANA was in vintage mode today, correct?"

"Yeah," Odd nodded. "It heavily outnumbered us and knew exactly how to take us down."

"Then to be honest, I'm not even sure if I could've fared any better."

"What are you talking about?" asked Ulrich incredulously. "You're the most capable out of any of us on LYOKO."

"I also lose life points a lot faster than you guys. That and XANA's probably already figured out my weaknesses."

"So all those attacks it made in the past…don't tell me they were just what, trial runs?" said Odd incredulously.

"To analyze our strategies and abilities," Ulrich moaned silently. So they had completely underestimated XANA when in reality; had it ever been behind?

"Wait, what does this have to do with you?" asked Jeremie suspiciously. Bryan looked up and regarded Jeremie.

"XANA took a massive gamble today."

* * *

><p>"What on earth are you talking about?"<p>

"You've already figured out that XANA's obsessed with what appears to be world domination?"

"Yeah?"

"And that it can't do that. Not while it's trapped within LYOKO – think of it as some sort of intranet prison."

"But XANA's attacked us in the real world before," said Ulrich.

Bryan nodded in understanding, having been nearly killed during one of these 'attacks' on his way to Kadic Academy.

"All it took to stop XANA was to have Aelita deactivate the Towers. Which, considering that this has been going on for over a year, hasn't been that difficult of a task for you guys."

"So that's why it killed Aelita? Without her, it could launch attacks on Earth without fear of being stopped."

"Partially. With Aelita gone though, you could've just decided to shut down the supercomputer and XANA's threat would cease to exist. No, it was after the Keys, and the only way to do that was to eliminate Aelita."

"So it really is trying to leave LYOKO then, to the internet," said Yumi.

Bryan was surprised. _So they're already aware of this…_

"It can't do that though. Not yet," murmured Jeremie.

"What do you mean?" Ulrich asked as Jeremie headed over to the computer and pulled up a recent file that resembled a blueprint or schematic of the digital world.

"This was found in the appendices of Hopper's diary. The 'Keys' are just a set of codes to unlock the boundary between LYOKO and the world network," Jeremie explained. "Once XANA finds them within Aelita's memories, they'll trigger some sort of…passageway that's still protected by what appears to be some sort of an external firewall. All XANA has to do then is get past it."

"And that's a major concern. The internet is essentially a massive system connecting the world and its respective technologies. For instance, XANA would have access to military bases and weaponry and controls," added Bryan.

All the XANA attacks up until now had seemed incredibly insignificant. Forget about giant teddy bears ruining school dances; it being nuclear-powered would be a much larger, global threat to civilization.

"XANA seems to have disappeared though," Odd noted. The Tower within CARTHAGE had returned to its blank uncontrolled state.

"I don't think so. It might be…for lack of a better term, _sleeping_. I mean, it just took all of Aelita's memories. Guess how big a file that must be to unzip and decipher? I'm guessing that it's going to be a while before XANA shows up again with the codes."

"But Aelita's gone now," Ulrich tried not to make any eye contact with Jeremie. "Technically speaking, we can shut down the supercomputer then."

"Which brings us back to the point," said Bryan. "XANA's gamble makes it possible for us to end it once and for all."

Jeremie could not believe what he was hearing. However, Bryan's proposal was the correct course of action. By turning off the machine, the remnants from the Cold War would…no longer haunt this world. Team LYOKO would resume their normal lives. While the optimal solution would be to also save Aelita as well, that was no longer possible…

"You planned for this to happen all along, didn't you?" Jeremie said quietly. "This was the easy way out, right? This is your plan to stop XANA?"

Bryan shrugged. "Everything's falling into place. If we don't shut down the supercomputer, once it acquires the codes, it will wreak havoc on the global stage. You saw what it was like today. That was closer to its real form. It has far superior and abundant resources for just several high school students to handle."

"This makes no sense though," interrupted Yumi. "Why would XANA take Aelita's memories if we could just turn off the supercomputer before it can escape LYOKO? It couldn't have been engineering its own destruction."

"It isn't. That's what makes it so risky. It's well aware that we can shut it down and end the threat. But it is also certain that we aren't going to leave Aelita – if there was a way to bring her back," Bryan added hesitantly. Jeremie noticed that he had used 'we', and…

"What are you talking about? XANA has all of her memories. She's…you know," said Odd. Bringing the deceased back to life was simply not possible. Not even the extensive magic in Harry Potter's world could do that.

"She's not dead," said Bryan calmly. He observed expressions of shock and utter bewilderment on everyone's faces, so he took a moment to explain something he had recently learned in programming class.

While they were on LYOKO, they had been virtualized into data – they were no longer human in the flesh and blood sense. Hence, one doesn't truly die in the digital world; their data form merely gets deleted from existence.

"However, there's always a backup of any data – even of recently deleted files – which are kept in the computer's hard drive for a limited amount of time. If we could retrieve Aelita's files, there's a good chance she could be saved. And–"

"So what you're saying is, we – by 'we', I mean mostly Jeremie of course – can write a computer program to do that?"

"It's not that easy, Odd," muttered Jeremie. What Bryan said sounded reasonable; indeed, that's how prosecutors are able to dig up evidence even though the suspect had wiped the files from their PC. However, the supercomputer was by no means a simple desktop. If Aelita was a 'file', then Jeremie would first have to locate and recall her point source. In addition to being a complex procedure, time was also not on his side. There was no way he could find Aelita's data within the huge hard drive of the supercomputer and compile a program before Aelita was permanently deleted.

"No. The reason why XANA's waited until now to take Aelita's memories…is because it's realized that I might be able to bring her back."

* * *

><p><strong>YUMI<strong>

Yumi had a shrewd idea as to how Bryan could bring Aelita back from the dead.

His LYOKO powers were unique, to say the least. For one thing, although his outfit is unmistakably the attire of Force-wielding peacekeepers from a galaxy far, far away, his abilities originated from a popular manga series. He had the potential to summon six separate entities to aid him in combat, each with a specific ability. Up until now though, he had ever only used five.

"Your sixth body of Pain."

"Hold on, you just said pain. Umm…what's this painful body thing got to do with bringing Aelita back?"

"_Naruto_," was Ulrich's curt reply. Having never touched a single work of manga in his life, Jeremie was lost, while Odd's jaw dropped.

"I thought you hated that comic book!"

Ulrich looked offended. "It's not a comic book, it's a manga! I only said I didn't like it because Sissi tried to…anyways I shouldn't really talk about that," he concluded quickly as he noticed Yumi eyeing him suspiciously.

"Right, let's get back to the point. What does this sixth body actually do?"

Yumi cleared her throat and attempted to simplify a concept that took the author of _Naruto_ over a year to fully explain. "Bryan's abilities are exactly like those of a guy in the manga – he has six bodies at his disposal, each with one technique. The sixth body… has healing powers, which could even bring back those who had been recently deceased."

In that instant, the situation turned completely upside down. A small window of opportunity had been revealed.

"Doesn't that make you invincible then? You can just keep replenishing your life points," Odd said as he regarded Bryan with awe. It appeared as though his abilities in the digital world knew no bounds.

Even Jeremie was stunned. He was already aware that Bryan was a force to be reckoned with. But to have control over something along the lines of life and death, this was clearly of a whole different and almost _divine_ level.

"There's no point in doing that though. I think I'd just be regaining the life points that I lost using that technique."

"Makes sense. So Aelita…you can bring her back, right?" asked Ulrich.

"Uh, I'm not actually sure," Bryan admitted, appreciating the fact that Jeremie was at least speaking to him with a less scandalising tone.

"However, if it's just like in the manga, yes – which I also think is what XANA is counting on. Well, that is, whether you want her back."

_Of course I – we – want her back, _Jeremie wanted to yell at Bryan. He had just presented a very plausible solution and it seemed as though he had some aforethought, and was backing down from it.

"Obviously there's no debate as to what we'll do –"

"There's more. Think about let's say, the greater good. Aelita's return would mean that the whole world would remain under the threat of XANA. And judging by your ability to stop it…it knows that it's going to pretty much get an open field."

Yumi's eyes narrowed. To save one life – the life of her best friend – even if it meant placing the future of the world at risk which was what XANA wanted. From that perspective, was it really worth it? They would just be playing into the evil program's hands again.

"But you would never leave Aelita, right? From what I've seen, she's…she's a really good friend of yours," he added, emphasizing the last part at Jeremie.

"And you too," added Odd indignantly. He had seen Aelita hanging out with Bryan, be it during a lab session or out of the classroom. She looked as if she was really enjoying herself.

Bryan shook his head and chuckled. "You guys are sort of like one closely-knit family. I – I respect that. I know you guys would have and have done everything to keep her safe. You could've shut down the supercomputer, yet you left it on because of her."

"I…think XANA's right. It knows exactly what we're planning on doing," said Odd with a weak smile; some of his optimism had already begun returning. After all, leaving the supercomputer on not only meant getting awesome Aelita back, it also meant that the missions within the digital world would continue.

"I'm sure we'll find a way to stop XANA in the future. And according to my factbook, we still have a 99% success rate against it. Next time it strikes, we'll be ready," said Ulrich confidently.

Jeremie nodded in assent. His eyes locked with Bryan's, yet the anger built up inside of him had all but dissipated. Jeremie still wanted an opportunity to discuss other matters…however, right now the priority was to get a certain pink-haired camaraderie back onto Earth.

"We're going after Aelita."

Bryan smiled. "Sure thing, Jeremie. Now get me into LYOKO. Please."

* * *

><p><strong>Fragmented Legacy Fun Fact 018:<strong>

Christmas birthdays are just a bit cliché, and so Aelita's date of birth is December 24, 1984, though she remains unaware of this. Of course, this means that Franz and Anthea Schaeffer got to 'open' one of their best Christmas presents a day early =D I always thought Aelita's b-day should be in a winter month – specifically the most 'magical' and festive one of them all.

Since Aelita couldn't remember her birthday, Jeremie decided to give her a temporary date: March 18 – the day his Code: EARTH program brought her back into the real world. Since then, Aelita's had one birthday party. It was awesome.

* * *

><p><strong>A|N's:<strong>

It's been cloudy and raining non-stop these past two weeks. Totally. Not. Awesome. At least I've finished all of my midterms!

Feel free to leave a comment, and as always, thanks for reading Code LYOKO: Fragmented Legacies =)

* * *

><p><strong>Replies to Reviews<strong>:

It's been a while since I've done this, so here's some shout-outs to readers like you =)

**_[Winter Coma]_**  
>Haha, Odd the Evil Mime was sort of drafted in the last minute, and since everything with Odd is 85% of the time humorous, that name stuck. Yeah, I really wanted to get the characters right to make them as relatable to the original TV series as I could (glad I didn't take sociology and psychology for nothing =D). Ah, I remember when I used to update on a weekly basis when I started this story (grr procrastination...). I'll do my best to keep the story going! Cheers!<p>

**_[SnickieFics]_**  
>Thanks for your feedback! Yeah, I kind of did a little researching on Lyokoland to make sure everything added up. In fact, one of the reasons why I set my story back in 2006 would be so I could also relate and use actual events (IMO Code Lyoko was about as realistic as a cartoon could get). Haha, I'm really amazed that you kept count of my hiatus (1 big cookie for you!). And as for writing faster…you got it chief! (after I'm done reading some of your stories =D)<p>

**_[Starke]  
><em>**Hello again! Thanks for your support during my 1+ years of fanficdom! Indeed, I'm always trying to do something different and unexpected with CL:FL. I also try to keep the reader guessing and interested, which is kind of what the chapter sneak peeks are for; some things are not always what they seem =) And yes, there will definitely be more references and revelations to come regarding Project CARTHAGE, etc. (what I've learned in World History is paying off!)

**_[IFR]  
><em>**Hi! Hopefully, the storyline remains interesting for your tastes; I'm still trying to find a balance between action/non-action scenes, fast/slow pace, and not introducing too many subplots without fully resolving earlier ones first. To be honest, I'm always a bit nervous on the Fridays that I release new stuff, mainly due to the feeling that I may have missed many spelling/grammar errors while I'm editing, so I really appreciate your compliments =)


	19. Thinking of you, wherever you are

**19: Thinking of you, wherever you are**

* * *

><p>A question of loyalty had divided the LYOKO warriors as the unthinkable happened.<p>

XANA killed Aelita.

Of course, one is not truly 'killed' in the digital world as they would on Earth since they exist as bytes of data; which would make a LYOKO custodian quite content of not having to mop up blood and properly dispose of any bodies following a siege between good and evil.

Technically-speaking, Aelita Schaeffer was still alive, barely. Having surrendered possession of her memories to XANA, her data form will eventually be eradicated. The girl with awesome natural pink hair will have ceased to exist, forgotten by everyone besides her LYOKO companions.

Yet, there was still a way to bring her back. But like all miraculous feats, Aelita's resurrection – if successful – came with a heavy price.

XANA would remain as a very real and dangerous threat.

* * *

><p>"Scanner, Bryan. Transfer, Bryan. Virtual–"<p>

"Wait. Something's wrong," said Yumi.

The devirtualization program suddenly closed and an error message appeared on the computer screen. Jeremie frowned. He had never seen such a pop-up before. He tried to upload Bryan's profile once more, but was unable to send him into LYOKO.

"Damn it," he cursed under his breath. Clearly, nothing would go smoothly today.

"Odd, go down to the Scanner room and tell Bryan to come back up. The virtualization program isn't working."

The boy nodded and left the room.

"The scanners worked perfectly for all of us though. Besides, Bryan hasn't been to LYOKO today."

"Maybe that scanner's malfunctioning. Did you try using another one?" suggested Ulrich.

Jeremie was about to test a different scanner when a small detail resurfaced in his mind. He opened Bryan's LYOKO profile and looked at the bottom-right corner.

A small number '1' was highlighted.

"You see that number?" Jeremie said, pointing to the small number.

Yumi and Ulrich nodded.

"I could've sworn…it was at five this past Monday."

"Is everything alright?" Bryan asked, having rejoined the group with Odd beside him.

Jeremie showed him his profile. "For some reason, I wasn't able to transfer you into the digital world. I think this number at the bottom has something to do with it. And it's not on anyone else's user lookup."

"Hold on. Jeremie, you said that on Monday it was at five?"

"I'm pretty sure that's what I saw."

"Well…" Ulrich paused to count the number of days on his fingers to verify his assumption. "What if it's some sort of counter? If it was at five on Monday, then it's four on Tuesday, and you get the picture – it fits right? That's why it's at one today."

Yumi smiled at Ulrich, impressed by his critical thinking and logic.

"It's like a buffer then. A certain period in which Bryan can't get into the digital world?" Jeremie reiterated.

_So even if he came along today, he still wouldn't have been able to help us…_

Bryan nodded. "That makes sense."

"But none of us have to wait more than a day to get back into LYOKO though."

"I guess it's another drawback – no offense Bryan – or compensation for having such a mega powerful LYOKO form. After all, with great power comes–"

"We get it, Odd. So what do we do for the time being?"

"We wait. If what you guys say is true – and it seems like a reasonable theory – the counter will be back at zero tomorrow, and I could go then to try and restore Aelita's memories."

"Agreed. We should meet up as soon as the buffer's expired then. How is everyone for midnight?" said Jeremie.

Odd's eyes lit up. An excursion during the middle of the night sounded exciting.

His more rational friend shook his head. "We can't risk getting caught out of bed again. You're aware that Jim's getting tougher and tougher on curfew these past few days after Halloween. And besides, we're not entirely sure of how long this whole thing's going to take. We should come back when we're fully rested." Ulrich reasoned.

"But the longer we wait to act, the greater the risk that we lose Aelita for good," Jeremie pointed out, before Yumi spoke up.

"How about we compromise? Tomorrow morning at around five or six o'clock? I'm pretty sure that either Jim will be asleep, or you can make up some excuse for getting up so early…like wanting to go on a morning jog."

The boy paused for a moment. "Alright. Can we all meet up here in eleven hours, then?"

While the others murmured their assent and went to retrieve their belongings, Jeremie turned around to set the computer settings to a low-power state. He took one last look at Aelita's avatar, before images on the screen faded into darkness.

Each LYOKO warrior had primarily the same two thoughts circulating through their heads as they made their way back to Kadic for the evening. The first notion was to find a way of waking up in the early hours without disturbing other students and faculty.

The second thought being contemplated was more controversial and had varying opinions. Back when Bryan revealed a possible way of saving Aelita, everyone was on board for leaving the supercomputer active. It was a unanimous decision; they weren't going to leave Aelita behind.

However, as Team LYOKO walked further away from the abandoned factory, several of them began to harbour doubts in their minds, feeling slightly uncertain with their decision and rationale.

Was it really worth it? To risk the future of the world – just to save their friend?

* * *

><p><strong>ODD<strong>

In Odd's mind there was nothing else to be said. His stance remained unchanged after he parted ways with the other LYOKO warriors.

Tomorrow, they were going to save Aelita. It was a no-brainer. Odd, Aelita was without a doubt, more than just a friend or a best friend. Or even a best friend forever. She had become one of the most integral components of his life.

Sure, there were times in which the two squabbled, had a slight disagreement, or had different tastes in humour. Then again, so do all relationships; nothing can ever be perfect all the time. Moreover, those brief moments were overshadowed by all of the good times they shared.

When she first came out of the scanners, Odd had developed some feelings of attraction towards her initially. She looked even better in the real world; she was cute, her features were more visible than on LYOKO, and of course, pink hair was a plus in the 'wow' department.

As he got to know her though, Aelita was more like the sister he never had. Their minds didn't always necessarily connect onto the same page. She wasn't as serious and stern as Yumi, nor was she as laid back as he was. In many ways, Aelita had helped to keep him in check. She was also one of the few people who found his jokes amusing.

However, there were consequences to saving Aelita, and leaving such an extraordinary yet dangerous piece of technology active. XANA would still remain a threat, and it seemed more powerful and dangerous than ever. However, Team LYOKO had always been able to rise to the challenge; as Ulrich pointed out, they previously had a perfect record against the malignant program. A streak that had come to a halt.

Nevertheless, it was just a setback. The next time XANA shows up, the LYOKO warriors would be better prepared and I full force. They just had to learn from their mistakes, like the Allies in World War II or Ulrich, when he added too little sugar into the lemonade. That was by far the worst and sourest glass of lemonade Odd had ever tasted.

Besides, there was no way on earth Odd wanted the supercomputer turned off for good. It was much too soon. True, the first couple of times he set foot on LYOKO, he was more interested of being in what seemed to be a live simulation game – than about the strange pink-haired girl trapped within the virtual world. Of course, that all changed once he got to know her a little bit better.

Above all though, this is what friends do. When one falls down, the other helps them up. _O'hana means family_. And from the underlying message Odd got out of watching Lilo and Stitch, that means no one's every left out, or forgotten. That and the fact that he needed to visit Hawaii sometime after he graduated from Kadic.

LYOKO had given Odd something amazing – something distinct and unique. It had given him a sense of adventure, and something to take his mind off of from school. It was like playing the best, coolest video game ever.

He had enjoyed the missions to LYOKO. It made him feel _alive_. And to have it all end on such a sour note…

* * *

><p><strong>ULRICH<strong>

With a sigh, Ulrich finally put his pencil down and closed his math textbook. He was by no means done – he still had two incredibly long application questions to solve – but he wasn't in the mood for it.

He leaned back on his chair and closed his eyes. Beside him, Odd was already asleep, snoring softly.

During dinner, the two had talked about the future of their LYOKO endeavours. Odd had seemed resolute in keeping the supercomputer on, for Aelita's sake.

But Ulrich wasn't so sure.

Like the others, he was aware that eventually – whether Aelita had been able to fully exist in the real world or not – that the group would have to make this decision. The supercomputer couldn't stay on forever, and there had already been several close-calls in which their secret had almost been discovered by others.

However, he didn't expect it to happen so soon, and definitely not under the current circumstances. Ulrich imagined an epic final victory over XANA, with Aelita becoming a full-time citizen of planet Earth, thus ending his LYOKO adventures on a high note.

Ulrich had to admit, LYOKO represented a great deal of pride to him. He had been involved in most of the missions, stopping XANA and saving the day. He had earned respect and praise from his friends, whom he grew closer to with every passing day. He had been a hero, minus the cape, clever disguise and recognition from the general public.

If they turned off the supercomputer, he would miss all of this. It would feel as though he and the other LYOKO warriors had given up on Aelita and their fight against XANA; they would be taking the easy route and leaving behind an unfinished story. And giving up and losing had long been erased from Ulrich's vocabulary.

Bryan said that he could revive Aelita. However, this was at the cost of allowing XANA to continue whatever crazy insidious plan it had in store for the world. The dilemma is quite similar to a runaway train with four people tied down to one section of the track and you were standing beside the switch. You could pull it to save those four people, but the train would then switch onto another track, in which one person was tied to. Either way, someone was about to get run over.

The only difference was that Ulrich knew the lone person tied down to the tracks. So should he choose the greater good, or be driven by his relationships. To be honest, he didn't know; he wished that he wasn't the one standing beside the switch.

_Perhaps everything would make more sense tomorrow_, he thought to himself as he turned off his desk light and went to bed.

* * *

><p><strong>YUMI<strong>

Yumi clicked the 'submit' button and felt immensely relieved when the words 'successfully submitted' showed up on her computer screen several moments later.

She had just finished her web applications for several universities and colleges a little over an hour before the deadline. And now the waiting game would begin, though Yumi felt proud of her choices, if not slightly confident that if she should encounter no troubles if she maintained her current grades.

In the meantime, there was a more urgent decision to make. Her mind kept replaying the events of the day. It always ended with an image of her returning to find Aelita's unconscious body on the hard surface of Sector V. _She wasn't fast enough_.

Yumi had lost someone close, someone who might have been the only female Kadic student whom she conversed and got along with. Apart from her family, she fully trusted Aelita to be her confidante whenever she needed assistance. Just as Aelita had provided plenty of advice to her during the past year, Yumi had helped her adjust to living in the real world and familiarizing her to the customs and social norms of the twenty-first century; although explaining the menstrual cycle to someone who had skipped her pre-teen and half of her teenage life proved to be a struggle.

Of course, this made the choice all the more difficult. Back at the factory, Yumi felt as if she was the only one with any aforethought. Everyone else seemed intent on keeping LYOKO active. But they were also seemingly ignoring the big picture.

She was by no means against saving Aelita. However, the benefits of shutting down the supercomputer evidently outweigh the costs. XANA would cease to be a threat and the group would no longer have to endure the associated life-threatening situations. Sure, they were all currently alive and well, but luck may have played a factor and there had been some close calls. In addition, Aelita had spoken of men in black suits who were after her father and the supercomputer. Should that be true, Yumi doubted that a group of high school students would fare well against trained government agents.

On the other hand, reviving Aelita was a happy ending for everyone. But this would mean having to deal with continued attacks and the risk of being discovered. There was also uncertainty – would they even be able to come up with a way of capturing the memory fragment possessed by XANA, and find a way to free her from LYOKO for good?

Turning off the supercomputer meant that everything would return to normal. Team LYOKO would be regular students focusing on good grades and getting into university, regular teenagers coping with the ups and downs of high-school and extra-curricular life. Her adventures on LYOKO were nothing short of exciting and special. But with one more year to go, Yumi could not afford to slip up her academic performance, and protecting the world from XANA took up a lot of her time.

Yumi didn't want to lose Aelita. At the same time, she could almost hear one of her previous teachers speaking through her ear: "_when making a decision, it is imperative that you leave out any emotional biases_." If the rest of Team LYOKO decided to leave the supercomputer on, she would go along with their decision.

But is it what Aelita would have wanted?

* * *

><p><strong>BRYAN<strong>

"So, is she really…?"

"Yes," Bryan said over his mobile phone, which was now to remain on 24 hours a day.

"And the others?"

"I'm not sure. They were depressed, I guess."

"Obviously," scoffed Valerie over the other end.

"Aelita – LYOKO kind of evolved to being a key part of their lives. I didn't anticipate XANA acting so quickly though."

_Still, everything is going as planned. Probably._

"Yeah. We always knew that there'd be a limited window to get the information we needed, which we–"

"Don't have yet. I know."

"To be honest, I'm surprised they've managed to stop XANA for this long. Your mind's set, then?"

"Yep. I didn't come all the way here for nothing. I'm sure I can dig up something, with or without XANA's help."

"And Aelita?"

"That's up to the others and whether what happens in a Japanese manga will transcend inside of a virtual world."

"That's really cheesy, _Pain_."

"Sorry."

"I don't see why it wouldn't work though. You've been able to use all of his other abilities in LYOKO."

"Maybe, but the whole 'bringing people back from the dead' concept never really works in real life though."

"Mhmm. Because what we're doing is absolutely plausible in real life. Anyways, what do you think their reactions will be?"

"You mean putting the future of the world in jeopardy just to save their friend?"

"Again, getting super-corny Bri. And she's still your friend too you know."

The boy frowned. _Still a friend…? _"I'm sure after a night of thinking about it…they'll come up with the right call. But I think they may be starting to lose their trust on me."

"I would. Who only turns their phone on when they need to make a call themselves?"

"Oh, come on. You too?"

Valerie laughed. "Just kidding. But if they do doubt you, you'll have a much harder time getting into LYOKO."

"Yeah. By the way, any new news on your lead?"

"I was about to get to that. It vanished while I was at school and I have no idea what happened. You know I can't really do much from here. Perhaps I should come over…"

"With your grades in everything unrelated to tech, programming or science, that might be an issue."

"Bryan?"

"Yes?"

"Shut up."

"Sorry, sorry."

"That's better. But yeah, you're right. Can I ask you one more thing?"

"If I say no, you're still going to ask, right?"

"Yeah. This whole…situation, it's all in the past. Surely we can just move on, is there really any need to do any of this?"

Bryan sighed. "Val, I wish I could leave the past behind. Problem is, I'm sure sooner or later it's going to catch up to me. I also shouldn't have involved you in any of this, you're a target now as well, and I'm sorry."

"Hey, it's okay. I'm aware of the risks. But I'll still always be by your side. You're still taking me to the ROM when this is all over, right?"

Bryan smirked. "Only on Tuesdays. Students get a discount."

"Gee, thanks Mr. Thrifty. I better get going. Coach Eakins said that if I miss another practice, I'll get–"

"A frown of disapproval. Come on, she's not kicking one of the best swimmers off the team."

"Duh, of course not. I'm too awesome."

Bryan coughed into the phone.

"Shush. I'll have to mop the pool floor though."

"…Disgusting"

"Yep. Just remember to keep me in the loop with any new developments. Promise?"

"…I promise."

"And Bryan?"

"Mhmm?"

"Make sure you do it right this time. And that it's completely legal."

"Don't worry. It'll all work out."

"That's the spirit. Talk to you soon then."

* * *

><p><strong>JEREMIE<strong>

_"Jeremie, don't move."_

_The boy stopped and looked over his shoulder. "What is it Aelita?" he asked casually while slowly lifting a hand up to his head, thinking there was something in his hair._

_Aelita didn't answer; not with words anyways, as she continued her way towards him._

_She placed her hands on either side of Jeremie's cheeks and kissed him in the mouth._

_It lasted for two seconds at most, but in Jeremie's mind, time had simply stopped moving._

_His whole body had froze in place over what had just transpired, and he was completely oblivious to the snickers of his friends. Aelita… had she just…?_

_"Just wanted to make sure that this was real," was all she murmured, a small smile on her face._

Jeremie took off his glasses and rubbed his eyes. It was past eleven, and all he had done for the past several hours was to take a long walk down memory lane. His computer, which was normally displaying a webpage, a word or spreadsheet file for an assignment, or data streaming directly from LYOKO, was instead running through a slideshow of photographs.

He looked once more at the last photo in the album. It was the one Odd had taken. The one with Aelita's lips pressed against his. The one which Jeremie had gotten Odd to swear that he would never reveal or send to anyone else.

Instinctively, Jeremie's hand hovered over his mouth. Even though the photo had been taken many months ago, the sensation was still fresh on his mind. The sudden surge of excitement, the softness of Aelita's lips on his, the sweet fresh scent of her skin.

He liked her. Now if only communicating this three-word statement was that simple.

How he missed her. She had an…aura, Jeremie couldn't explain it, but it made him happy to be with her. For the most part, she always took an interest in everything he had to say. Her cheerfulness and the way she laughed, it was enough to warm up and light up any atmosphere.

And so, he wasn't about to say goodbye to her, just yet. Regardless of the hardships and obstacles that lay ahead, regardless of the uncertain future, if Aelita could be saved, Jeremie was all up for it. Everything had to go right tomorrow, to make up for the disastrous events of today.

He got up from his seat and for possibly the first time, he was taking up on Aelita's request to turn in early and get a good night's rest.

While Jeremie lied in bed looking up at the ceiling, his mind returned to one person once more. And as he began to doze off, he was feeling mixed emotions.

He was quite fond of the time he had spent with Aelita. However, he also felt a tinge of grief; those times he was alone with her, times in which he was given an opportunity to become more than just good friends, he could never bring himself to say anything.

He had let them slip away. It had felt pretty insignificant at the time – Jeremie was quite content with just being with such good company. The way his body would tense whenever Aelita put a comforting arm over him, whenever she touched him, hugged him…kissed him.

Now, he might never get another chance.

_What a fool you are Belpois_, Jeremie mumbled as he fell asleep.

* * *

><p><strong>Fragmented Legacy Fun Fact 019:<strong>

Odd's favourite sweet treat is a chocolate-frosted sprinkled donut.

* * *

><p><strong>A|N's:<strong>

Five more chapters to go! Can't wait for the holidays. Chapter 20 is in the pipeline, and I hope to have it out by the end of the year. What could be more festive than the return of a main character? (hint: it's not Sissi)

Feel free to leave a comment, and as always, thanks for reading Code LYOKO: Fragmented Legacies =)


	20. Tempus Reversi

**20: Tempus Reversi **

* * *

><p>The <em>Six Paths of Pain<em>.

A truly remarkable ability from a truly remarkable manga that allows the user to command some of the most powerful techniques imaginable.

Manipulation of gravity.

Summoning.

Absorption.

Super-strength.

Mechanized armament.

And restoration, the power to heal and to bring those recently deceased back to life.

On LYOKO, Bryan primarily uses these six techniques through controlling six bodies. Therefore, when fighting against XANA, he won't have a blind spot and he can effectively coordinate his attacks with utmost precision and accuracy.

His avatar may be unique compared to the others, but that doesn't mean that he is completely infallible. Although XANA was caught off-guard and defeated during their first encounter, Bryan no longer has the element of surprise on his side. With sufficient knowledge of his abilities, XANA was able to defeat him much more easily in their most recent rematch.

In addition, Bryan can use any technique of the other LYOKO warriors, provided that he has previously accessed them. Of course, with great power comes a great cost. Each ability requires an amount of energy, and the more devastating the technique, the more life points Bryan must give up in order to use it.

Furthermore, there is a relaxation time that prevents him from entering LYOKO until the period has expired. Hence, Bryan may not be able to fight against XANA every time it launches an attack. Nevertheless, he and the other LYOKO warriors have proven to be an ever-growing thorn for the malevolent program.

* * *

><p><strong>ULRICH<strong>

She was only one step out the door when she took in a deep breath of the crisp outside air. It was only midday and the temperature was already slowly dropping, but she didn't care; she was finally free.

As she looked around, her eyes suddenly darted towards the base of a nearby pine tree. She reached into her right jacket pocket and took out her digital camera.

_Snap!_

Satisfied with her photo of two squirrels fighting over an acorn, Milly Solovieff lowered her camera, before something else caught her attention.

"Ulrich!"

**Milly Solovieff  
>Age: 14<br>Rating: 7.5/10  
>Fun facts:<br>She once asked Ulrich to a dance. He said yes, much to the chagrin of Sissi.  
>She is also part of Kadic's News Crew, and is the Executive Photographer.<strong>

The boy stopped and looked over his shoulder. "Hey Milly. What are you doing out here?"

Despite the cold, Milly could feel her cheeks heating up. Normally, you'd expect the popular, athletic and handsome to act rude and smug; that they were the cream of the crop above the trash that was everyone else. Examples of Kadic students displaying such behaviour include: cantankerous Sissi Delmas, Lord of Cocky William Dunbar, upper-year jock Erik Stevenson, and Aelita's best friend in the whole wide world, Sissi Delmas.

Yes, Sissi is on the list twice for emphasis.

However, Ulrich was the exact opposite. If there was one word that could describe him, it would be: _cool_. He was undoubtedly one of the more well-known individuals at Kadic, partly due to his athleticism and the fact that he was just really easy to get along with.

In addition, he was especially well-liked among the younger students because he never made them feel a sense of inferiority. And ever since Milly went to last year's Halloween dance with him – as friends, of course – she never felt any form of awkwardness or shyness while talking to him. The only thing that puzzled her was why he was still single.

"Oh, nothing. Just had math class this morning, and I felt like I just had to come outside for some fresh air. It was sooo long and boring."

Ulrich chuckled and scratched the back of his head. "Let me guess, you have LeBreton, right?"

Milly nodded feverishly.

"Yeah, I know the feeling. I don't really – well, I'm thinking the general consensus is that no one likes her. But I heard from the upper year students that she prepares you well for the exams and stuff after that."

"Yumi told you that, I'm assuming?" Milly inquired with a slightly teasing tone.

Ulrich paused. _Darn, she's good_. "Maybe," he replied with a small wink.

Coincidentally, the girl in question just happened to be walking towards them, with Jeremie, Odd and Bryan by her side.

"Anyways, I should probably get going. Don't want to keep the most impatient man in the world waiting," Ulrich muttered quietly under his breath so that only Milly could hear him.

She grinned in understanding. Holding Odd up for even ten seconds was enough to elicit mass chaos, panic, and hair-pulling stress followed by either a bad joke or ridiculous pick-up line.

"Sure thing. I've got a meeting to go to as well. Apparently, Heidi's got the scoop on the missing donut mystery."

Ulrich had a slight premonition on the culprit, but decided to keep his mouth shut. "Sounds…interesting. Alright, I'll see you around," said Ulrich.

"So what was that all about?" asked Odd when Ulrich rejoined the other LYOKO warriors en route to the factory.

"Uh, Milly was just asking me about the chemical properties of hydrochloric acid."

"Really?"

"No," said Ulrich. He then noticed that Yumi was lagging slightly behind and slowed his pace down as well.

"Something troubling you?"

Yumi turned to look at him, brushing aside a strand of hair. She wasn't sure if she was making it too obvious, or if Ulrich had psychic powers, but he always seemed to be able to tell when something was bothering her. But she couldn't tell him. Not now anyways, with the group back in relatively high spirits.

"Why, as of matter of fact, there is. What actually _are_ the chemical properties of hydrochloric acid, Dr. Stern?" she asked with a playful look in her eyes.

Ulrich's mind came up blank as his cover began to fall apart. "Well…"

* * *

><p><strong>JEREMIE<strong>

Jeremie was not pleased. The rest of the group noticed it too, and decided not to utter a single word in front of his face.

They were running out of time to rescue Aelita. The plan had been for everyone to meet up at the factory at five o'clock in the morning. As it turned out, no one was able to wake up so early. Perhaps everyone was tired out either from yesterday's battle against XANA, a gruelling tennis practice session, or by the truckload of schoolwork.

Even Jeremie, who had gone to bed earlier than usual, had only managed to get up thirty minutes before his first class. Evidently, his biological clock had not adjusted to such a different sleep regimen.

Although he wanted Team LYOKO to skip their classes, Ulrich warned him that it would arouse too much suspicion should they all ask to be excused. Yumi also had a big biology test that she could not afford to miss.

A 'return to the past' once they had revitalized Aelita was also turned down. Although that would enable them to re-take their morning classes, going back in time had given XANA major power boosts in the past; there was a risk that the program would hasten its return from hibernation.

Thus, Jeremie was stuck in class for three hours, occasionally glancing down at his watch and waiting for the lunch break. The only good news was that the teachers had bought his story that Aelita was feeling a bit under the weather and would be absent for the rest of the day. When the lunch bell finally rang, he was the first to pack up his belongings and demanded the rest of the group to be at the front of the school in five minutes.

The closer they got to the factory, the more anxious Jeremie became. What if Aelita was already fully deleted from the supercomputer? He was especially afraid of turning on the computer screen, only to find no trace of his friend anywhere.

Upon reaching the main control room, Jeremie rushed to his usual seat in front of the monitor and activated it from sleep mode. He held his breath as several seconds passed before a visual of CARTHAGE appeared on the screen.

Nothing had changed.

Aelita's lifeless body was still in plain view. _She's there_, Jeremie let out a sigh and his heart rate returned to normal.

"You ready?" he asked Bryan.

"Yep. It's decided then? We're going to try and revive Aelita, knowing that this will only prolong the fight against XANA?"

"Yes," said Jeremie and Odd instantaneously. Ulrich and Yumi remained silent, but indicated their agreement with subtle nods.

Yumi wanted to voice her concerns regarding the plan; that LYOKO had already consumed too much of their time and continuing to put Paris – and the rest of the world, for that matter – at risk just for one person may not be ideal in the long run.

However, seeing as the majority had voted in favour of keeping the supercomputer on, she remained silent. Like the rest of the LYOKO warriors, a part of her wasn't ready or willing to part ways with Aelita just yet.

"XANA's likely going to emerge stronger than ever before. But so will we," Odd added reassuringly.

"Aelita was right, you do make good motivational speeches," Bryan remarked. "So, can you guys accompany me to LYOKO? As a precaution."

"That's why we're here," said Ulrich with a small smile.

* * *

><p><strong>BRYAN<strong>

This time, Jeremie was able to virtualize him, along with the others into LYOKO without difficulty. A new number showed up; Bryan would be unable to access the digital world for the next three days. Apparently, the buffer period after each trip was random.

Odd, Ulrich, Yumi and Bryan made their way back to XANA's not-so-secret headquarters in the centre of CARTHAGE. There were no monsters in sight and the region's Tower was glowing white.

Bryan got off of Odd's OverBoard – he insisted on conserving his life points instead of conjuring his own means of transport – and headed over to Aelita's limp body. He took out a slender black rod from his sleeve and pierced it straight into Aelita's hands.

"Hey!" Jeremie exclaimed. For a moment, he expected blood to start gushing out, until he remembered that she was only data.

"Relax. It's only temporary," Bryan replied as he knelt down beside her. He took another black rod and stuck it into his own arm.

"So, where's your sixth body?" asked Ulrich.

Bryan shook his head. "I'm pretty sure I don't need it. Plus, a man with multiple piercings probably isn't what Aelita wants to see when she wakes up."

Odd shrugged. "Fair enough."

"Ah, I see…" Bryan murmured. The rods had allowed him to form a link with Aelita. Apparently it _was _possible, to bring her back. In the control room, Jeremie saw two words that were unmistakably in Latin appear on Bryan's active profile.

_Tempus reversi_. Reversal of time.

It started to make sense. He was going to restore Aelita's memories to the state they were in before XANA had taken them; seemingly creating an individual 'return to the past'. Although that meant Aelita would still be missing the fragment that was still in XANA's possession, she should at least regain consciousness.

Jeremie then saw why creating a program to manually acquire Aelita's memories would've been nearly impossible, especially given the short timeframe. The code of _tempus reversi _was intricate, not to mention incredibly long. Furthermore, Jeremie couldn't exactly pinpoint the source where the memories were being recalled from; as far as he could tell, it didn't appear to be anywhere within the supercomputer.

Bryan frowned.

"Something the matter?"

"I – I don't have enough life points to completely restore Aelita's memories," he said, before taking out three medium-length black rods from his sleeve and handed one to Ulrich, Yumi and Odd.

"When I start running low on health, I may need you guys to stick these into any part of your body. I'll be able to replenish my health this way. That is, if you don't mind."

"No problem, just do what you have to do."

"Alright." Bryan closed his eyes to concentrate. He put his palms together, and time began to flow backwards.

* * *

><p>Seeing is believing. And yet, Jeremie could not believe his eyes.<p>

It was working. Even though the speed was equivalent to downloading a massive torrent file, Aelita's life points were slowly increasing. On the other hand, Bryan's life points were also decreasing at a slightly faster rate.

After ten minutes, Bryan winced. It wasn't possible to feel pain on LYOKO, but he felt as if he was burning, followed by the sensation of being stabbed by a knife.

"Er…I need more energy," he muttered.

Ulrich nodded and proceeded to stab himself with the black stick Bryan had given him.

"Hey, how are you holding up?" asked Odd worriedly, noticing that his hair was beginning to change colour, from light blue to chalk white.

"Hmm? Yeah, this… is taking more than I thought. I'll be fine." he replied, gritting his teeth.

A few more minutes later, Ulrich was devirtualized after Bryan had absorbed all of his life points. Still, it wasn't enough to completely replenish Aelita's health, so Yumi and Odd then gave up their life points as well.

At the same time, Bryan appeared exhausted. Apart from his hair, wrinkles began shadowing his face. Nevertheless, he continued to reassure the others that everything was fine.

Nearly an hour later, Aelita's memories had been all but completely recalled. Bryan had just enough life points to boost hers back to 100, as his hovered around zero for the fourth time. He groaned and struggled to get up.

"It's done," he said wearily as he pulled the energy blade out from Aelita's hands.

However, she did not awaken nor show any signs of movement. Nothing seemed to happen even though her memories and life points were restored to their original and full states. Jeremie was on the edge of his seat, with Odd biting his fingernails beside him. Even the usually rather impassive Ulrich and Yumi bore looks of skepticism.

They had done everything they could.

It was then that Aelita began to stir.

* * *

><p><strong>AELITA<strong>

Slowly but surely, Aelita began to regain awareness of her surroundings as she opened her eyes groggily.

She could tell that she was still in Sector V. It was as though she had been under anesthesia and had just woken up from a long sleep. But it also felt as if no time had passed. She recalled that she came to get her missing memory fragment back from XANA, but had been ambushed instead. The place had been teeming with monsters, but was now all quiet and empty. In addition, there appeared to be someone sitting in front of her.

She blinked and her vision came into focus as she made to sit up. The whites of their eyes were pale purple instead, and there was that distinct ripple pattern of rings originating from the pupil.

Could it be?

"Bry…an?" she breathed.

"Hey sleepyhead. Enjoy your nap?"

Aelita nodded sleepily, before her mind snapped back into place. The last thing she could remember before blanking out was that the Scyphozoa had been hovering above her, about to take her memories. But… she could still remember everything besides her childhood. That must have meant that XANA's attack had failed, and that…Bryan had saved her. Even after everything that had happened yesterday.

"You came back. Why?"

"Well…why not?" he answered casually.

"Wait you, your hair," was all Aelita could come up with.

Bryan looked heavily emaciated. His hair was now completely bleached white and his face was wrinkled. He looked as if he had aged fifty years. "Yeah, I guess this kind of happens when I…when I exceed my limits."

It suddenly dawned upon Aelita that as she was gaining strength, he was losing his. And yet, he still had a contented look etched on his face.

"Don't worry. Once I'm better, I'll expl–" Bryan never got to finish what he had to say, as he collapsed. Aelita reached out and momentarily had him in her arms, before he was devirtualized.

"No!" Aelita cried.

"It's alright. He's back in the scanner room. I'm bringing you in now as well," said Jeremie, whose voice trembled with joy and amazement. And he wasn't the only one. The other three LYOKO warriors had displayed similar emotions – shock, relief and glee – before rushing down one level to the scanners to await their return.

"Yesss," said Odd victoriously, shaking his balled-up fist in triumph.

Bryan had emerged from the scanner and would've fallen head-first onto the ground if Ulrich hadn't caught him and hoisted him up on his shoulders. He no longer appeared as sickly as he did on LYOKO, his face was wrinkleless and his hair was sky blue once more. However, there was a small streak of white as well.

Another scanner opened to reveal a conscious girl with bright pink hair, who for the past several seconds, had been thinking of an awesome re-introduction. She looked up to see three sets of smiling faces.

"Hi guys. Did you miss me?" So much for that great introduction, but Aelita was too happy to care. Her attention then focused on Bryan, who was hanging limply over Ulrich's shoulder and her smile faltered.

"Is he…?"

Yumi nodded. "He's fine. Jeremie said he just overused his life points and that he'd awaken within the next 24 hours."

Relief rushed through the Princess, before Odd wrapped his arms around her in a great bear hug. She laughed and returned the embrace. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Ulrich and Yumi exchanging smiles, and Jeremie coming into the scanner room. She flashed him a thumbs up, and his face lit up as well.

Aelita was back.

* * *

><p>The rest of the day went by with a blur.<p>

After sneaking back into Kadic, the group laid Bryan down on his bed. Ulrich took note of the clean abode with a tad of jealousy. Then again, it was an unfair comparison since Bryan didn't share a room with Odd.

Aelita left a note on Bryan's desk asking him to call her as soon as he wakes up. She took his keys and locked to door behind her.

In order to maintain her alibi as a sick student, she missed all of her afternoon classes. Fortunately, her friends had nicked enough food for her from the cafeteria. Odd even offered her a chocolate-frosted sprinkled donut. She then spent the rest of the day catching up on schoolwork in her room.

By nine in the evening, Aelita's right hand was sore and worn out. She had finished copying Jeremie's notes as well as a good chunk of her assignments. With nothing better to do, she decided to check up on Bryan's condition, since she hadn't received a call from him yet.

On the way, she ran into her best friend in the whole wide world.

"Hey you."

"Hi Jeremie."

"Feeling better?" Jeremie asked as Herb – his unofficial academic rival that he really didn't care about – walked past them.

Aelita played along. "Absolutely, thanks for asking. Just needed some fresh air. Don't worry it's nothing contagious. I just had some cramps and a bad stomach ache. As soon as Herb was out of earshot, Jeremie leaned forwards and murmured.

"Where are you going?"

"To see Bryan," Aelita answered, before adding: "is he awake yet?"

Jeremie shook his head, while wondering why Aelita was so determined to see him. "No, he didn't show up for any of his afternoon classes or for dinner. Mind if I come with you?" he added.

Just as Aelita was about to reply, Odd came around the corner munching on a donut.

"If it isn't Jerlit – I mean – Jeremie and Aelita! Just the two people I was hoping to meet!" he exclaimed happily, before grabbing the boy's arm.

"Sorry Princess, you mind if borrow Jeremie for a while? Ulrich's studying alone in the library and I need some help with chemistry."

Aelita chuckled. "No problem. Can you give us a minute?"

"Sure thing. Thanks a bunch Einstein. You know where to find me!" said Odd as he headed back to his room.

"You know, I've almost forgotten how…enthusiastic Odd can be when it comes to learning."

"Um, Aelita you know that you were only gone for a day, right? I thought you knew Odd better than that, tsk, tsk," Jeremie said with a wry smile.

"Oh, hush you," Aelita shoved him playfully. The two locked eyes for a brief moment.

"What?"

Jeremie shook his head and his eyes darted sideways. "Nothing." _Other than the fact that I'm talking to the most beautiful person on the planet who I thought was gone forever._

Unfortunately, in this love comedy, Jeremie was currently on the comedy side and did not express his feelings outright; not that it would have been without any misunderstanding. He didn't even notice Aelita approaching him, and stiffened when she placed a hand over his shoulder.

"By the way, it really is great to be back," she said softly.

Jeremie placed his hand over her shoulder. "Yeah. It sure is."

* * *

><p>Aelita unlocked the door to find Bryan still in a deep slumber. She sat down beside him.<p>

His breathing was quite shallow, and she had the feeling that it would take some time before he would awaken. However, she didn't want to leave because he might wake up while she was gone, kind of like that piece of bread in the toaster that won't pop out until you look away.

She still had to properly thank him, for saving her. Yumi had told her everything.

Aelita stifled a yawn as she reached out for his hand. It was cold, so she sandwiched it between her two hands and held it on her lap. With every passing minute, Aelita grew more and more exhausted, despite having slept for more than a day. She could barely keep her eyelids open as she waited for a sign that Bryan was okay.

Soon, she had fallen asleep as well. Her body slumped forwards and landed gently on the bed. If only she had stayed awake for just a couple minutes longer, she would've felt Bryan's hand twitch slightly in hers.

* * *

><p><strong>BRYAN<strong>

Bryan felt something pressed against his torso as he woke up. His forehead was glistened with a bit of sweat, so he made to rub it off, only to find that he was unable to move his right hand.

He turned to his side. His eyes took a while to adjust to the darkness, but he could make out some of the familiar shadows and concluded that he was back in his room. Bryan assumed that the others had helped carry him back after he had blacked out from reviving Aelita.

With the setting solved, Bryan turned his attention to the lump right next to him on the bed. It was almost as long as he was – perhaps Odd had brought him an extra-large submarine sandwich. Just thinking about food made his stomach growl – he hadn't eaten anything since breakfast.

He slowly moved to his side and reached out with his free hand, his eyes still only half-open. It felt really warm and soft, and it most certainly didn't smell like a ham sandwich. Finally, it hit him. Even in the darkness, he could make out that it was a person, and given the faint and rhythmic inhaling and exhaling, he or she was sleeping. And the person had bright hair. Possibly pink.

_Aelita?_

He nearly bolted upwards, but managed to stop himself. Bryan then noticed in horror what he was touching. Something warm, soft and rather jiggly.

_Crap crap crap! _He cursed and hastily retrieved his hand as if it were burning (with embarrassment!) and hoped that Aelita wouldn't wake up. Instead, she let out a soft satisfied sigh and turned her body so that Bryan was looking directly at her face.

He wasn't sure whether he should wake her up or to remain in this rather…intimate position. He also wasn't sure whether Aelita was one of those people who didn't like to be woken up, so he chose the latter option. Plus, Bryan had to admit that she looked kind of cute.

With his free hand, he moved his sheets so that it covered both of them, before his mind wandered back to the reason why he had awoken so abruptly.

The dream had felt so real – _great, now he was the one having nightmares_ – but he had already forgotten most of the details. However, he was sure of one thing.

He had been talking to Franz Schaeffer. Or at least, that was how he had introduced himself. As for the location, it did not look like anywhere on LYOKO, or on Earth for that matter. It was a dark metropolitan that was only illuminated by a few neon lights.

All he could remember from their brief conversation was the name of a man he had never heard of before.

_Alan Meyer_.

* * *

><p><strong>Fragmented Legacy Fun Fact 020:<strong>

_Tempus reversi_ can be interpreted as 'back in time'. And although she's unaware of it, Aelita can also seemingly manipulate time on LYOKO, just like Bryan. However, whereas Bryan can restore life, Aelita on the other hand…

* * *

><p><strong>A|N's:<strong>

Aelita (and Milly, to a lesser extent) is back! With the "XANA – memory retrieval" arc winding down, I think Team LYOKO can go back to their full-time occupations as hard-working high school students. In the next chapter: it's Odd's time to shine!

Apparently, in the new Code Lyoko Evolution series, there is a Mr. Alan Meyer who is set to play a major(?) role. So, because of his cool name (kidding), he's also set make an appearance in this story as well. How's that for continuity =P

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays! 2012 has been a breakthrough year for me with respect to this story. There's a lot more to come, so here's to 2013 being equally (or hopefully even more) awesome! Feel free to leave a comment, and as always, thanks for reading Code LYOKO: Fragmented Legacies =)


	21. how i met your odd

**21: how i met your odd**

* * *

><p><strong><em>- a little ways down the road, in the year 2025 -<em>**

"Daddy, it's storytime!" exclaimed an over-energetic six-year old girl, who was by no means tired even though it was already past nine in the evening.

Odd chuckled and proceeded to ruffle his daughter's shoulder-length blonde hair. He sat on her bed, which consisted of pink sheets, pink pillows and a snug pink soft blanket. Looking at them made him think about one person in particular.

"Alright, then. The night's still young. Just don't tell mommy about this okay?"

Magileine Della Robbia nodded enthusiastically as she lied down and allowed Odd to tuck her in. He cast a glance towards the custom bookshelf Jeremie had designed for her. The books were arranged and placed along the outside of a wheel that could be spun around. The circular shelf was also cushioned and wide enough such that Magileine could lie down on it like a reclining chair.

Odd wished he had a bookshelf like that.

"Now, which book do you want me to read? The Three Little Pigs?" he suggested. She shook her head.

"Little Red Riding Hood? Prince and the Pauper? Cinderella?" Odd continued to name titles of some of the books that Yumi had bought for his daughter. Again, Magileine shook her head.

"How about–"

"No."

"Huh? Do you want me to make up a story then?" Ideas instantly began floating around Odd's mind. After all of his adventures, coming up with a tale that exaggerated his heroic feats was a piece of cake; like how he saved Ulrich from utter humiliation when they were in Hong Kong, for instance.

"Daddy, you said you'd continue _that_ story."

Odd scratched his head for several seconds, before remembering.

"Oh, right. So I did. But there's…still a long way to go. If I don't finish tonight, I'll tell you the rest of it some other time, okay?" he said, before clearing his throat dramatically.

"Alright then, back to the story…of _how I met your mother_."

* * *

><p><em>Now Magileine, you already know that your mother and I went to the same high school, Kadic Academy. But up until now, we didn't know each other that well.<em>

_However, in November of 2006, something very unexpected and memorable happened. You know how sometimes your lamest and worst ideas actually end up working? This was one of them, and even to this day, your Uncle Jeremie acknowledges that I can put a smile on anybody's face. I can also easily put a look of annoyance on people's faces, but that's beside the point._

_Yep, November…hey speaking of which, this was also the time in which everything started falling into place for your Aunts Yumi and Aelita. _

_Whoops, my bad. I'm getting a little off-track again. Anyways, my awesome story took place when YouTube was just over a year old._

_By the way, I loved YouTube. It was, and still is one of my favourite pastimes. After all, there was nothing like watching videos for free. Apart from watching cartoons, occasionally I'd stumble upon a random video that blew my mind._

_And when I came across one that provided both food and high-quality slapstick humour, I couldn't help but feel rather inspired…_

* * *

><p><strong>ODD<strong>

"Hey Bryan, thanks for lending me this," said Catherine Horvath as she handed him back a novel. Her eyes were visibly red, but she still managed a small smile before heading off.

"What's up with her?" asked Aelita. Bryan shrugged.

"Isn't it obvious?" said Yumi as she took the seat beside Ulrich and began peeling her orange.

"Umm…she stood too close to a pile of raw onions?" Jeremie suggested.

The oldest LYOKO warrior adopted an expression that seemed to say '_seriously?_' "Alright, so it's not obvious to some people. She just broke up with Erik."

Up until now, Odd had been munching happily on one of his chocolate-frosted sprinkled donuts. Upon hearing that Catherine was single again, his ears perked up. He took a glance sideways and saw her at one of the end tables clearly looking crestfallen and all alone.

Ulrich noticed him staring and whispered. "Forget it. She's way out of your league. Besides, she hardly knows you; you rarely hang out with her. If anything, Bryan's going to be the one out of all of us."

Odd ignored his friend and instead got up with his tray and headed to where Catherine was sitting. He didn't know what as driving him to take chances and potentially get messy; Ulrich was right, they barely talked or knew to each other. But if he didn't at least try, he'd never know.

And a girl like Catherine was hard to come by. She had everything that made Odd's heart start racing whenever he saw her. She was bright, friendly and looked absolutely attractive no matter what her hair colour and style was; today it was dark purple.

Besides, there was someone in plain view that was clearly unhappy. And as the self-proclaimed provider of endless humour and general feelgood, he had to act.

* * *

><p><strong>AELITA<strong>

Right after Odd vacated his seat, everybody's choice for Friendliest Kadic Student of the Year arrived in his place.

"What do want now Sissi?" said Ulrich with a small moan as the others applied the old-fashioned silent treatment. Like Odd, she ignored Ulrich and instead focused her look of vindictive pleasure at Aelita.

"Feeling better today I see."

Aelita put down her glass with a little more force than usual and did not look up. She wiped her mouth with a napkin. "Indeed I am," she replied as if stating the obvious. Plainly, she – along with the rest of her group – wanted Sissi out of her sight.

"Hmm. I was wondering if you could tell me then, where were you last night? I take it that you weren't in your room?" Sissi pressed on.

"What does it matter to you?" Jeremie asked with an accusatory tone.

"Well, it just so happens that I saw her coming out of Bryan's room this morning."

Jeremie was stunned. Aelita had told him the night before that she was only checking up on him, not to have a sleepover, which in young adult terms could have other implications. He glanced at Bryan for an explanation, but it was Aelita who spoke up.

"So? I slept in his room last night after catching up on everything I've missed in class."

"You slept with him?"

"Hold on–" Bryan started.

"Yes. Anything else? If not, can you just leave us alone?" said Aelita furiously.

Sissi's eyes glinted as if she had just discovered the lost treasure of Atlantis. "You do realize that my father will hear about this," she said jubilantly and walked off in stride.

"Wha – what just happened?" Aelita sputtered.

"Let's just say…we just had a slight misunderstanding. When you said that you slept with Bryan, Sissi interpreted it as–" Yumi leaned over the table and whispered into her ear. Aelita put her hands over her mouth and looked down. Suddenly, she wasn't feeling that hungry anymore.

Bryan muttered what was likely several swear words under his breath and made to get up and rush after Sissi, but Ulrich hauled him back down.

"I'm starting to really hate this Eliza girl."

"Uh, you mean Sissi, right?"

"That's her name? No wonder she always looks at me weirdly. I've been calling her that for a while now." As usual, Bryan had a bit of difficulty in remembering his fellow classmates.

Jeremie cleared his throat. "What was that all about?"

"I honestly don't know. Aelita came into my room last night, but I don't know when. I found her sleeping next to me, but I didn't want to wake her up. She was gone when I woke up in the morning."

"That's it?"

"Pretty much."

"So you two didn't…you know?"

Bryan looked flabbergasted at the thought of such mature subject matter. "Of course not Jeremie, come on. We're only sixteen years old! You know we'd never do that."

* * *

><p><strong>ODD<strong>

Even though Odd had never shown any shyness or lack of confidence when talking to people of the opposite sex, he did feel slightly nervous and began to have second thoughts. However, when he reached the table where Catherine was sitting, his mouth curled into a grin.

"Hey, is this seat taken?"

Catherine looked up, surprised to find that someone was talking to her. "Um…no." She lifted her knapsack off of the chair.

"You feeling alright?"

Catherine nodded. "Yeah. Just…had to take care of some stuff. Thanks for asking, Odd," she added, before looking back down gloomily at her lunch.

And that's when Odd had an awesome fantastic idea of cheering her up.

"What are you eating?"

"Umm, what are you doing?" Catherine asked suspiciously.

"Trying to put that smile back on your face. Now, can you tell the wonderful studio audience what you have in your mouth?" Odd gestured to an empty table. Catherine almost did have a smile back on her face from the sheer ridiculousness of the situation.

"But you can see what I'm eating." Odd shook his head and made a hand motion as if to say "go on."

"Fine. I'm eating an apple. It's the best fruit in the world," she added.

"Really?" said Odd with a hint of skepticism. "Because in my honest opinion, it looks more like a rotten piece of crap."

There was an awkward silence as Catherine's neutral expression began to turn into a frown.

"Excuse me?" she asked with her eyebrows raised. This was his way of cheering people up?

"Yep. Apples are definitely the most disgusting and yuckiest food in the world."

"Oh really? What's your favourite food then?"

Odd reached into his backpack once more and took out two circular pieces of food. "Duh, they're right in my hands."

"Donuts?"

"Not just any donuts! Chocolate-frosted sprinkled donuts! And I bet they can do more everyday tasks than your _crapples_." Odd then took out a superstore brochure and slammed it down on the table.

A smile crept up on Catherine's face – and this time, it wasn't forced. She brushed aside a strand of her purple-dyed hair.

She knew where this was going.

_So, he's seen that video as well_. Odd was being silly, but she was too amused at the idea to object. And it wasn't like her to turn down a challenge, no matter how random it was. Odd had just insulted the sweet, crunchy fruit that people like her enjoyed on a daily basis. That was unacceptable.

"I'll have to disagree with you on that. The terrificness that is the apple shall crush you and your brown frosted pieces of trash!" retorted Catherine.

"You're on!" Odd exclaimed, taking a giant bite out of one of his donuts. Food Battle 2006 – the highly competitive and ultimately nonsensical competition of sheer willpower and nutrition had commenced.

* * *

><p><strong>YUMI<strong>

"By the way Jeremie, I was wondering if you could do something for me?" said Bryan.

"Sure. What is it?"

"When you have the time, check and see if there's anything in the supercomputer about someone named Alan Meyer?"

"Huh, Alan Meyer? Who's that?" asked Yumi.

Bryan didn't want to tell the others that he had supposedly been in touch with Aelita's father while he was unconscious. "No idea. His name just came to the top of my head for some reason; pretty sure there's something connecting him to LYOKO though."

"Alright, I'll see what I can find," said Jeremie, nodding. Bryan had helped save Aelita and for the time being, Jeremie had renewed his trust in him. Having already finished eating and showing no interest at Odd's nineteenth attempt to get a girlfriend, he got up and left.

Aelita and Ulrich had already turned back to watch Odd plan fall into place. And it appeared to be working. Catherine was laughing as he held a donut right in front of her face.

"What's he doing now?"

"Uh…if I'm not mistaken, I think he's trying to turn his donut into a wallet," Bryan replied as he saw Odd trying to stick loose change into his donut with apparent difficulty. "Anyways, I'd better go clear things up with the principal."

Aelita got up. "I'll go too. It's partly my fault, I shouldn't have–"

"It's alright. You took care of my keys while I was out cold. And I can't fault you for falling asleep; I usually cover most of the belongings in my room with ether, just in case someone tries to break in."

"Really?"

"Of course not. I'm not that paranoid, am I?" Bryan chuckled. Aelita looked slightly embarrassed. To pay him back for teasing her, she huffed and took a jab at Bryan's shoulder.

"Hey, if we don't get going, we might actually get detention," she added hastily.

"Ah, right. We'll see you two later then."

"See you later," repeated Yumi, before turning to Ulrich.

"We're seriously going to stay here and watch Odd play with his food?" she said with an amused expression.

Ulrich sighed. "Probably not a good idea, I know. If he sees, he'll involve us somehow."

"My thoughts exactly. So, what do you want to do then?"

"I don't know. I thought it was your turn to make the decision."

"Nuh-uh." She shook her head.

"Uh-huh."

"Not this again."

"Uh-huh," Ulrich smirked.

"Fine. Let's go to the library."

"Okay. What for?" Ulrich got up.

"You still have to do some research and tell me all about the wonderful chemical properties of hydrochloric acid."

"Seriously?" said Ulrich, taking note to never question his friend's extensive memory.

"Yes," Yumi replied cheerfully.

"Darn."

* * *

><p><strong>ODD<strong>

As it turned out, donuts were not really good wallets.

For one thing, it was hard to stick Euros in the donut without it crumbling. Another flaw was that the chocolate frosting stained pant pockets, which Odd figured out just a tad too late.

By this time, Odd and Catherine had taken their food dispute outside. After five rounds, they were tied in points. Odd's precious donut had prevailed as it transformed into an effective pair of glasses and a towel. On the other hand, Catherine's apple had been able to outperform the donut as a chalkboard eraser and a paperweight.

However, both turned out to be horrible mittens; the donut merely fell apart and created a mess on Odd's hands, while Catherine encountered extreme hardships in inserting her fingers through the hard flesh of the fruit. Apple mittens were also ineffective in keeping fingers moisture-free, due to the simple fact that apples themselves consisted of water.

Even though Odd had already succeeded in his primary objective of cheering his new friend up, winning Food Battle 2006 was still a priority.

"Alright, how about this," Catherine pointed on the catalog to an image of a Frisbee.

"Works for me. I'm going to outspin you out en route to this win," said Odd confidently.

Catherine laughed. "I'm sorry Odd, but that was quite frankly, trash-talking at its lowest lamest level." She cut out a circular slice of her apple and flung it towards Odd. Unfortunately, the light breeze outside was still enough to displace the light apple disk; it wobbled and dropped limply not far from where she stood.

"Dang it!" Catherine grumbled while Odd looked positively jubilant. He then took out a fresh chocolate-frosted sprinkled donut and slung it in Catherine's direction.

The heavier and bulkier donut appeared to be on the mark; however just as it reached halfway between him and Catherine, it ran into a bit of interference…and hit a passer-by, who happened to be Kadic's physical education teacher among many other things.

The donut glanced off Jim's spiky brown hair, but the damage had already been done. Slowly, he leaned over to pick up the remains of the food projectile as Odd held his breath.

"Della Robbia!" he barked. "You're coming with me. Now!" He grabbed Odd's arm and dragged him back inside the school as a stunned Catherine looked on, not knowing whether she should laugh or shake her head at the slight turn of events of what otherwise might have been a pretty comedic situation.

* * *

><p>"Catherine, Catherine!" yelled Milly as she rushed towards the upper-year student.<p>

"You've just won Food Battle 2006!"

Catherine adopted a look of shock. "Sweet! Wait a minute, were you watching us goof off all this time?"

"Maybe. The point is, you won by default. So, what are you going to do now?"

"I'm…I'm going to burn the entire school stock of chocolate-frosted sprinkled donuts!" she exclaimed.

"Oh boy! Burning donuts! Can I come?"

"Hell yeah!"

* * *

><p>Catherine decided not to burn all of the donuts in the chemistry lab. Nor did she allow Milly follow her to where she was going. She headed for the gymnasium and caught Odd leaving Jim's office. He didn't look troubled, and when he saw Catherine approaching him, his face lit up.<p>

"Hey, you okay? Jim didn't punish you that badly, did he?" said Catherine, concerned. Her purple hair was hanging loosely around her head.

Scratch that previous thought; Catherine was bright, friendly and looked absolutely attractive no matter what her hair colour and style was, or mood she was in. _God, she looks amazing_, thought Odd. He shook his head.

"Nah. He just lectured me for a couple of minutes about wasting a perfectly good donut. So I gave him one for free and that's that."

That seemed very unlike the usually-stern physical education teacher, but Catherine looked relieved. "That's good."

"Yeah. Actually, it wasn't anything like that. I have detention after school."

"What? But, it wasn't even your fault! Jim just happened to be at the wrong place at the wrong time."

Odd shrugged. "Meh, what's done is done. And, Jim's detentions aren't really that bad. He usually falls asleep ten minutes in and I just leave."

His response elicited a chuckle from Catherine, who admired his positivity. "Glad you're always looking at the bright side of things."

"Well, it takes more muscles to frown than smile, after all. I know that for a fact. Besides, pessimism is for people without a sense of imagination, or a sense of humour."

"Nice words of wisdom, Philosopher Odd. By the way, I wanted to thank you for today. I know you were trying to cheer me up. And I'd just like to say that you were ultimately successful." She flashed him two thumbs up.

The smile on Odd's face grew wider as he hid any trace of him blushing with a laugh. His professional acts of boosting morale seldom received any praise. "Anytime. By the way, I'm not sure I've properly or officially introduced myself. I'm Odd." He extended his hand.

Catherine laughed and extended her hand as well. "Why, pleased to meet you Odd. I'm Catherine, the winner of Food Battle of 2006."

"There's always next year."

"What, for me to win back-to-back titles?"

"Touché."

"Thank you. Anyways…Bryan told me that you were a huge fan of video games."

"Yeah. Wait, he's told you stuff about me?" Odd's eyes widened. He remembered what Ulrich had said at lunch; that Bryan spent a lot of time hanging out with Catherine.

"Don't worry. He actually spoke quite highly of you, and that there's never a dull day whenever you're around."

"At least he's got some of his facts straight," the boy mumbled.

"Back to the point though, I was wondering… There's a huge tournament at a gaming convention at the end of the month. I was planning on going and I just thought you'd be interested. I'm also looking for a partner for doubles in Halo 2, so…"

Did Odd just hear correctly? A Halo 2 tournament that he wasn't aware of? And more importantly, Catherine was asking _him _out? The consolation prize to Food Battle 2006 was much, much better than what he had expected. In what was most certainly a rare occasion, Odd was rendered speechless.

"I mean, it's alright if you don't want to come, I understand," Catherine added quickly.

"No…it's not that. But, I think I'm free that day. Sure, I'll tag along!" Odd replied, excited. Looks like it was time to break out his X-box and re-master his sniping skills.

"So it's a date then? Great!" Catherine grinned.

"Wait, did you just say it was a date?" Odd mentally slapped himself in his head; talking about going out with someone currently going through a break-up was not a really smart idea.

"Did I? Sorry, slip of the tongue." Catherine looked unfazed and had a wry smile on her face. "I'll fill you in with the details in the next couple of days, okay?"

"Okay," Odd replied as the bells rang to signal the end of their lunch break.

There were still two weeks before the end of November, but from Odd's perspective, it couldn't come fast enough. He watched as Catherine headed off; the notion of having an after-school detention already forgotten now that he had a weekend a little ways down the road to look forward to.

* * *

><p><strong>Fragmented Legacy Fun Fact 021:<strong>

This chapter is loosely based on the legen…wait for it…dary TV show _how i met your mother_, in which Odd stars as Ted Mosby in his epic quest to find 'the one'. Don't worry, it won't take 8+ seasons for the mother to be revealed. In addition, _Food Battle 2006_ was inspired by a video of the same name by the YouTube duo Smosh, in which a pink-frosted sprinkled donut emerged victorious over a taquito. Additional fun fact: taquitos are not good pool floaties.

* * *

><p><strong>A|N's:<strong>

This is probably one of the less-serious and more-ridiculous chapters in a while (obviously, because Odd's the star). I've had the idea to write this chapter for a while, but I hadn't figured out where to put it in. In the end, I decided to start 2013 off on a humorous note.

So, is Catherine the mother? Maybe…maybe not. However, fans of Mr. Della Robbia can find comfort in the fact that he'll still be alive and well by the end of this story. In addition, this chapter provides a glimpse as to just how long there is to go before the end is reached =)

Feel free to leave a comment, and as always, thanks for reading Code LYOKO: Fragmented Legacies =)


	22. CLSS02

**22: (CLSS-02) Open the sky**

* * *

><p>Skating 101.<p>

Aelita had been eagerly waiting for over a week to attend this special after-school class. She watched Bryan before strapping on her new grey and blue-striped roller skates.

Her skates were some of her only possessions that weren't pink. When she had bought them, she was told that colour wasn't important, since they were going to wear down and the paint would scratch off anyways. Rather, comfort and durability were emphasized. And her feet fit snugly as she slid them in. It wasn't tight and she still had a bit of room to wiggle her toes as well.

After tying her laces and putting on her shoulder, elbow and knee pads, Bryan started showing her the basics: how to move forward, stop and turn. Aelita nodded as she watched him, eager to get going herself. She got up and immediately began to wobble, but she stuck out her arms and managed to remain upright.

At first, she held onto Bryan's hand as they slowly skated around the perimeter of the school. It wasn't bad at all. Aelita was concentrated on not falling; her body was fixed and rigid. However, as they rounded the final corner, she sped up too much and lurched forwards. Just as she was about to fall, Bryan reached out for her arm and pulled her back up without applying too much pressure.

"Thanks," Aelita mumbled.

He smiled. "You're doing fine. You're a bit stiff though. Relax, and it'll be easier for you to turn and find or adjust your balance."

Initially, Aelita was nervous of messing up; she wanted to prove to Bryan that she was a fast and competent learner. But then again, Rome wasn't built in one day. Bryan also seemed like a pretty laid-back instructor. He wasn't strict and it seemed like he just wanted to have a good time.

"Don't worry so much about falling. Your pads will minimize the impact. And you have me."

Aelita felt her face heating up even though it was another cold afternoon. "What do you mean?"

"Oh, if you actually do get bruises, I know where to get some ice packs," he replied cheerfully. She huffed.

"Just kidding. I'll be here to make sure you don't fall."

"Yeah well, you'd better." Aelita smiled.

They went for another lap. This time, Aelita felt more confident skating by herself. She loosened up and could feel herself becoming more flexible and light. She still teetered a bit when turning, but she was getting the hang of it. She could feel the wind blowing by her, and she loved it.

Bryan came alongside her and tapped her shoulder. "You've never skated before? Could've fooled me. You're a natural, A-tan."

"What was that? A-tan?" Aelita asked curiously.

She received no reply. Instead, Bryan grabbed her shoulders and directed her to a new path, where twenty or so stairs lay ahead of her.

Fear shot through Aelita. There was no way she could make it to the bottom, whether it was jumping or gliding down the railing, or whatever Bryan was challenging her to do.

"Hey! I–" She had only been skating for 30 minutes, this wasn't part of the lesson, right? She attempted to brake, but there was no room. Bryan grinned at her. _This isn't funny_, Aelita thought crossly, before she was lifted into the air. It happened in a split second. Bryan cradled her body in his arms and leapt upwards at full speed. Aelita had her eyes closed, clinging onto him tightly, bracing for the inevitable impact.

* * *

><p>But it didn't come. Seconds felt like hours. Finally, she opened one eye and looked around. They were still airborne, <em>flying<em>, or seemingly so. The sky was no longer the limit.

Moments later, it was all over thanks to gravity. Bryan landed back on the ground and came to a stop.

"So, what do you think?"

Aelita was speechless. She had never felt that sensation before; of no longer having her feet bounded to the ground.

She smacked Bryan's shoulder. "You could've gotten us both killed!" she exclaimed, but there was no hint of anger. On the contrary, she couldn't help but smile.

"That's impossible, I'm far too graceful," he said confidently, which only earned him another jab.

"And for your information, this is what I'll be teaching you next."

"But it seems so…difficult," said Aelita, still stunned that he had managed to clear all those stairs.

Bryan laughed. "No harder than moving from a tricycle to a bicycle. Obviously, it'll take longer. But if you get the basics – which I think you've mastered quite well today – then the really fun stuff like this is a piece of cake, as long as you stay relaxed and in control. That being said, how was your first flying – I mean skating lesson?"

"It was amazing. I've got the best teacher in the world," she said enthusiastically, her eyes shining.

"By the way, you're the best skater I've ever seen. Did you ever enter any competitions back in Canada?" Aelita added. She was a bit surprised when Bryan shook his head.

"Nope. I didn't want to show off my amazing skills to everyone."

She figured as much; Bryan had just defied the laws of physics with that jump. It was as if he had sprouted wings. And naturally, stuff like that would generate much attention.

"Fair enough. One more thing."

"Hmm?"

"Can we do that again?"

"What, talk about the ethics of showing off?"

"No, I mean that," Aelita pointed to the stairs behind them.

Bryan smiled. "Absolutely not. Only one ride per day, that's the rule."

She tugged at his arm and tried to show him her best puppy-dog face, but remembered his immunity to such things. Bryan turned around and began to skate away. He looked back, sighed, and motioned for her to follow.

"Come on. You can't jump off when you're already at the bottom."

Aelita's face lit up once more. She sped up and darted past him.

"Race you to the top! If I win, we get to do it twice," she yelled back.

_Always a kid at heart…_Bryan chuckled and followed her. And two jumps later, despite the slightly sore arm muscles, he was satisfied that everything between them was back to normal.

Aelita had begun taking her first steps off the ground, towards the infinite atmosphere that awaited her above.

* * *

><p><strong>Fragmented Legacy Fun Fact 022:<strong>

Aelita is the only LYOKO warrior who has two modes of transport from Kadic Academy to the abandoned factory: a scooter and roller skates (once she masters the 180-degree moon drop wind dash technique, that is).

* * *

><p><strong>A|N's:<strong>

Another Code LYOKO Short Story is in the bag! I'll probably have one of these little snippets into Team LYOKO's life per season.

Feel free to leave a comment, and as always, thanks for reading Code LYOKO: Fragmented Legacies =)


	23. Happenings at the Hermitage

**23: Happenings at the Hermitage**

* * *

><p><strong>AELITA<strong>

_Aelita woke up to the sound of soft snoring, in a room that wasn't hers._

_Right, she had gone to Bryan's room. It was light outside. She must have fallen asleep while waiting for him to get up. There was a blanket wrapped around her, and she felt a warm hand in her own. _

_Her face turned beet-red. Bryan must've tucked her in, but that would mean that he had gotten up; he had regained consciousness. Aelita was surprised he didn't kick her out, or ask for an explanation. He let her stay the night._

_Bryan__'s sky-blue hair was all over the place and…she could see a trickle of drool leaking from his mouth. She smiled, it was quite cute._

_She then realized that she had broken curfew by eight hours, and that if Jim caught her in Bryan's room, it wouldn't bode well for either of them. And so, she gently detached her hand from Bryan's and slid out of his bed. She left his keys on the desk and heard mumbling behind her._

_"A…tan?" Aelita turned around to see Bryan just opening his eyes and glancing at her direction. Wanting to see him all better and actually seeing it were two different things. She strode over to his bedside._

_"You came back and saved me," she whispered, her eyes wide-open._

_Bryan__ smiled. "Of course. But you were right all–"_

_Aelita shushed her friend by putting a finger to his mouth – careful to avoid the drool spots – and placed her forehead over his._

_"I'm really sorry…I – I didn't want to hurt…fighting is stupid," she blurted. She always had difficulty forming complete thoughts and sentences when talking to him._

_"Nah…it's healthy for friends to argue once in a while. It strengthens bonds…somewhat…not really," Bryan admitted, which made his friend chuckle._

_"I'm sorry too, for everything I said. But…the more I thought about it afterwards. I was wrong."_

_"Huh?"_

_"You should know what I knew. I should've told you that you held the Keys. You've been through so much. I didn't want to put more responsibility on your shoulders. I…care about you."_

_Aelita sniffed. Bryan was only looking after her. How could she stay mad at him? __"Still. I shouldn't have yelled at you. It's not your fault that I'm a…I'm a…"_

Tool.

_Bryan__ shook his head. "Why do you think that way? Your father kept his most important secret with you. He had so many places to conceal it and yet…he chose you. Do you know why?"_

_Now it was Aelita's turn to shake her head._

_"He chose someone trustworthy. The one who stood a chance against XANA. The one who wouldn't be tempted to use the supercomputer for their own ends. The person he loved the most."_

_Aelita was at a loss for words. All this time, she only thought of the burdens of being LYOKO's guardian; how she put others in danger. However, it also proved to be a blessing. Had none of this happened, she'd never have such good friends that stood by her side through thick and thin._

_She found it hard to hide a growing smile. Bryan…Jeremie…they always knew what to say to make her feel better. _

_"Bryan?"_

_"Yeah?"_

_"I'm glad we're friends."_

_The boy smiled as well. "Yeah."_

_"Can you promise me something?" Aelita asked, holding out her pinky finger. _

_"Promise me that you'll always be honest and tell me everything – good and bad – okay? I know you're looking out for me, but I don't want to be left in the dark either."_

_Bryan__ was hesitant at first, but crossed his pinky with hers. "Deal."_

_She beamed. "I should get ready for class. We'll talk later?" Bryan nodded and she headed for the door._

_Everything will always surely be alright, she recited to herself happily. _

* * *

><p><strong>BRYAN<strong>

Two-on-one fights were really unfair.

_Bryan__ was sent flying back against the wall. He coughed and could taste the blood in his mouth. Every single muscle in his body ached. He was slow to get up as two men approached him._

_His shirt was in tatters, and his knife laid several metres away from him. Bryan reached for the weapon, but his arm was met with a sickening crunch. He screamed in pain._

_He was afraid – not by the likely impending death – but by how it came about; why was he being targeted? And what were they thinking; were they planning to prolong things? Torture him?_

_The two men wore fine black suits that bore no scratches, and were observing the broken boy with some curiosity. They talked in low tones and didn't notice a shadowy figure sneaking up on them from behind. _

_But before anything else happened, Bryan's dream shifted. He was skating at lighting speed, away from a group of jeering teenagers._

_"What's up with his hair?" some of them murmured loud enough so he could hear them. _

_"I heard he slept with Valerie last night." _

_"Great, now our school is gonna be full of nerdy babies," another said with a fake groan._

_"Where are you going, freak?" a girl's voice snickered, followed by laughter from the crowd._

_The voices faded away, but the insults stuck. Bryan wanted to turn around and take on the bullies, but he kept moving forwards. He looked down; the grassy path had turned into the concrete slab of a skyscraper. _

_Bryan__ tried to stop and looked for something to grab onto – he was already over the ledge. Within seconds he began to plummet. Just as he hit the street surface below, the scene changed again._

_He was on LYOKO in his Jedi outfit, with six orange-haired bodies by his side._

_XANA never really stood a chance. Bryan mowed down monsters without as much as moving his fingers. His Six Paths of Pain moved fluidly in a 3-2-1 formation, executing every motion with utmost precision. But he wasn't satisfied._

_Then William appeared and swiftly decapitated one of the bodies with a sudden slash. But the body didn't burst into data, it slumped forwards and the head rolled towards Bryan._

_It had Ulrich's face._

_The head however, began talking in Jeremie's voice. Bryan could only catch bits and pieces:_

_"found Meyer,"… "not too many details," … "company head, until he disappeared"… _

_That vision dissolved as well, and Bryan was back in his room, on his bed with Aelita sleeping right beside him, holding his hand…_

And that's when Bryan opened his eyes. He moved his hand around the bedside shelf until he found his phone. It was past nine.

Fortunately, it was also a Sunday so he had no classes. Just as Bryan was about to roll over and fall asleep again, his phone vibrated. He ruffled his bedridden hair and picked up on the third vibration.

Bryan yawned loudly and heard laughter on the other end.

"Good morning sleepyhead. I take it that you're still in bed?"

"Actually Aelita, I'm back in Canada fixing leaky roofs on the Parliament buildings."

"Oh, right. Saw it on the news. Congratulations on a job well done. Do you still have time to escort me to my humble abode then?"

"Sure. Meet you at the cafeteria in…ten minutes?"

"Sounds good. I'll be waiting."

Bryan stretched. Today was going to be a good day. The sun was shining, there was no homework, no classes, and Bryan was sure he wouldn't have to punch anyone.

And yet, he couldn't shake off the latest hobbled collection of dreams. He could vividly remember some that actually happened, and others were frighteningly new. Ever since he revived Aelita, he started having more nightmares, dreams, whatever you called them.

He just didn't know what to make of it all.

* * *

><p><strong>AELITA<strong>

Jeremie was gone for the weekend. He and Herb were representing Kadic Academy in a team robotics competition. Feeling in the mood for a walk with company, Aelita asked Bryan instead if he wanted to come along with her to the Hermitage, her former home before she wound up on LYOKO.

"We almost there, A-tan?"

Aelita looked at him quizzically. Bryan had begun calling her that for the past couple of weeks and she didn't know why.

"What was that?" she asked with a hopeful smile.

"What was what?"

"A-tan."

"It's nothing."

"I don't believe you."

"Well, I believe me. I actually feel quite confident in myself rather lately."

She grabbed Bryan's arm and spun him around. He was smiling.

"You really want to know what it means?"

Aelita nodded.

"Okay."

Bryan put an arm around her shoulder to get her walking forwards again. With the wind blowing against them, Aelita found herself cuddling closer to him. She waited patiently, but he didn't say anything.

"Well?" she asked after a minute.

"Huh?"

"A-tan."

"Oh. It's…nothing."

"Bryan!" she smacked his arm.

"Ow! What? You wanted to know what it means. And I acknowledged you. It doesn't mean I'm going to tell you," he added with a lopsided grin that Aelita found absolutely adorable.

Nevertheless, his shoulder hurt a bit more after that.

* * *

><p><strong>ODD<strong>

'_Fortunately, it was also a Sunday_' doesn't always work out for everyone.

Odd was serving his second detention in as many weeks, as he was found guilty of taking the cafeteria's entire stock of chocolate-frosted sprinkled donuts. In his defence, the donuts were lying out in the open and no one was around. That cut his penalty by ten minutes, and he still had kitchen duty for the next two days.

Nevertheless, one bright spot in this situation outshone everything else. He had a date with one of the most popular and hottest girls at Kadic.

Alright, so Catherine didn't really say it was a date. Nevertheless, it was going to be just the two of them. And who knows? Maybe his search for 'the One' will finally end.

He thought back to their food fight, how he made her laugh – oh god, her laugh was absolutely intoxicating; the sky could be falling and he wouldn't have noticed. He hardly knew her and yet, he was comfortable 'being Odd' around her, something which she tolerated.

Odd hit himself in the head.

Food Battle. He had forgotten to record it. He could've been the next YouTube sensation, with a video of several million views.

He sighed. _There's always next year…_

* * *

><p><strong>BRYAN<strong>

The Hermitage was the second-largest house Bryan had ever seen. The interior was even bigger than the exterior suggested, and was designed in the simplistic modernist style. The cupboards and shelves were mostly bare and only large rectangular furniture remained sitting on the polished wood floors. Despite being vacant for over a decade, the house seemed to be in good condition, albeit a bit dusty.

When Bryan saw the piano, he asked if Aelita could play. She nodded but muttered along the lines of: "not really that good, haven't practiced in a while…"

Mimicking her persuasiveness, Bryan tugged at her arm and stuck out his bottom lip. Unlike him, Aelita had yet to develop immunity to pouting. She playfully shoved him to a chair, before she sat down in front of the piano. She thought for a moment, and began striking the black and white keys.

Practice or no practice, Aelita was good. Her fingers danced gracefully up and down the instrument as she played Mozart's 'Twinkle Twinkle Little Star' from memory. And when she finished, Bryan applauded politely in the manner as the Austrians would back in the 1700's.

After a typical teenager lunch of sandwiches, cookies and apples – courtesy of Food Battle 2006 winner Catherine Horvath – Aelita and Bryan were relaxing amiably on the living room sofa.

"Aelita," Bryan said quietly. "What do you think about Alan Meyer?"

The girl placed her hands under her chin; she had no answer. Alan Meyer turned out to be just another piece of an incredibly large puzzle.

According to Jeremie, the supercomputer did have something on the man whose name Bryan had mentioned. But it seemed like a dead end; there was no distinct connection to him, LYOKO, or Project CARTHAGE itself.

As far as details went, Alan Meyer had been former acquaintances with Aelita's father. Indeed, his name popped up twice in Dr. Schaeffer's diary.

The only other details about him in the supercomputer were encrypted. However that was a non-factor; Jeremie was just that awesome in programming.

_Alan Meyer, President of Deckard Incorporated._

A further search on the company 'Deckard Incorporated' came up blank; there was nothing to show that such an organization had ever existed. But when Jeremie told that to Bryan, the latter could've sworn he had seen or heard of that name before.

"What's your take on all of this?"

"I think Uncle Alan is a real swell guy who was good friends with your father in high school. They had moustache growing contests and were good poker players. In fact, Dr. Schaeffer was impressed by his deck shuffling tricks that he encouraged his friend to start his own card store. That store was called Deck of Cards Inc. – and was shortened to Deckard Inc. The end."

Aelita giggled, surprised that she had listened so intently to such humorous nonsense. Even on such a serious topic, Bryan had some way of showing off his wit.

"Moustache growing classes? That's a pretty…interesting theory. I would've never thought of that."

The boy nodded. "Most people don't."

"Because it's silly."

"Until it's proven false, Uncle Alan's poker store is our main lead."

"And if you're right, I'll dye my hair blue," Aelita snickered.

"Challenge accepted," he grinned.

* * *

><p><strong>AELITA<strong>

"Hey, you want to see my bedroom?" she asked all of a sudden. Not waiting for a response, she pulled Bryan off the couch and up the stairs.

Like the house in general, her room was spacious, with a nice bay window overlooking the front of the house. The curtains were dusty, but a faint bleached pinkish shade was evident. There was a queen-sized bed, a small wooden desk and chair, several bookshelves and a chest at the opposite corner.

"So, what do you want to do?"

She thought about it for a moment, before her face lit up.

"Read to me."

Bryan looked away from the window. "I'm sorry, what?"

"Read to me. It's story time," Aelita repeated excitedly.

"Isn't it too early for a bedtime story?" Bryan smirked, but Aelita wasn't paying attention as she searched her bookshelf. She took out a book that she had read countless times, but it was one of her favourites.

_Alice__ in Wonderland_. The paperback book itself was yellowed, but otherwise in very good condition; the pages were smooth and there were no tears.

She handed it to him. He smiled and patted the floor next to him. Aelita obliged and sat down obediently.

Bryan cleared his throat emphatically, and began reading.

"Alice's Adventures in Wonderland. By Lewis Carroll, with 42 illustrations by John Tenniel. London, Macmillan and Company. 1865. The right of translation is–" he felt something hit his shoulder.

"Fine, I'll skip all the important exciting copyright stuff," he let out a sigh of disappointment.

Aelita smirked. "Good. Carry on then."

Several chapters in, the sun's rays were now penetrating through the large windows. Aelita could feel her eyelids droop, as she stretched her legs and wiggled her toes while Bryan read to her.

She decided to try something, so she took his arm in her own, and rested her head on his shoulder. Bryan stopped in mid-sentence, surprised; his body had tensed after feeling something come down on his right shoulder. It felt so warm and soft.

"Umm…"

"Mmm?" Aelita mumbled, instantly regretting what she had done. _I knew this was a bad idea_.

"Is something wrong?"

"Huh? Oh, n-no. It was just…unexpected, that's all."

The moment she made contact with him, Bryan felt uneasy. Not in a bad way, it just felt so _foreign_. He wasn't about to tell Aelita, but he had a sudden vision in his mind, a memory.

_He had been in the exact same position, sitting on the floor, when he felt something on his shoulder. He turned and saw a girl resting her head on his shoulders – just like Aelita. She had long curly hair and parts of it were gently touching his face. But he couldn't make out her face. And worse, he had no idea who she was – or whether she was actually real._

"Do you not like it?" Aelita's cheeks were flushed bright red.

"Umm…" He saw his friend's worried expression. And to be honest…

"No, I like it." With a bit of uncertainty, he wrapped his left arm around her shoulder. Aelita smiled as she rested her head comfortably on his shoulder once more.

With the initial shock wearing off, Bryan contentedly returned to the novel and re-immersed himself in Wonderland; a place where cats speak riddles, queens possess highly combustible soldiers and a young girl, who was in the midst of taking on a brave new world.

* * *

><p><strong>BRYAN<strong>

Bryan's eyes snapped open upon hearing a beeping noise coming from his mobile.

He would've sprung up if Aelita wasn't resting on him. Careful not to wake her up, he slid his hand into his jean pocket and pulled out his beeping phone. But no one was calling him.

It was the signal informing him of an activated Tower; Jeremie had recently installed the application on his phone so he'd know when there was trouble.

_Impossible, it's only been several weeks. XANA shouldn't have the Keys already._

As much as Aelita looked too peaceful to be disturbed, Bryan gently nudged her and she began to stir.

"Huh? What?" she asked groggily. She noticed her room had gotten much darker. How long had she been asleep?

"XANA's back," said Bryan in a worried tone.

Aelita's senses kicked into high alert. Jeremie was still away, so she tried to get a hold of the others first. However, she couldn't get her call through, there was limited connectivity. That rarely happened.

"Your service is down too?" asked Bryan. She nodded.

"We should get going then," he said, placing _Alice in Wonderland_ back on the bookshelf, before leaving the room with Aelita behind him. Five stairs down, Bryan came to a halt.

"What's the matter?" she asked, drawing level with him.

He didn't respond though his mouth was agape. Instead, he raised his hand and pointed in front of them. She gasped.

Two tall and slender shadows were moving along the walls, the silhouettes illuminated by the dim moonlight protruding through the large curtainless windows that were slightly ajar.

"Get down," Aelita whispered urgently, but Bryan remained frozen in shock. She forced him on his knees with her arm and they crept down the stairs. They then crawled over to the living room sofa.

Aelita could hear only two things: the periodic ticking of the grandfather clock and a pair of crisp footsteps that were getting louder. She secretly hoped that it was just Ulrich, Yumi or even Odd. She couldn't resist and took a tiny peek from the edge of the sofa…

And saw two fully black-suited men with matching dark shades coming into view. Aelita ducked back and turned to Bryan, his eyes staring blankly ahead at the wall.

"Men…in black…?" Aelita showed the faintest of nods. Had he been able to sense their presence? For the first time, she saw fear in his blue eyes. He was trembling as he placed his hands over his ears.

_Great, two things to deal with at once? But Valerie said the trail disappeared…how did they find us? _Bryan felt his strength sapping away. He was conscious, but his body wasn't responding to his thoughts.

Meanwhile, the shadows grew larger. Suddenly, it was if the men weren't altogether solid; their shadows flickered, phasing in and out. Aelita had seen that happen before, and it began to make sense.

" …I think they're XANA's spectres." However, the fact they weren't the agents that haunted his dreams did little to sooth Bryan's nerves.

Aelita patted his shoulder, but the boy didn't move. Now she was getting increasingly distraught, she needed his help if they were to get out safely. So she scooted over and squeezed his hand. It was cold.

"Bryan…" she pressed her forehead against his and rubbed circles on his back, trying to get his attention.

"I'm scared as hell right now," he muttered, looking down as if he was ashamed to admit it. Real or not, the presence of the agents rendered him helpless.

"Oh…umm," Aelita felt lost and alone. She clung onto Bryan, trying to conceal her own fears and comfort him at the same time. And she could only come up with one source of motivation.

"Everything will surely be alright," she whispered. Aelita felt Bryan's head twitch up and down. And that 'invincible phrase' seemed to restart the creative mechanisms in her head.

If they did nothing, XANA would eventually corner them. Who knows what it had in store for the LYOKO children. Aelita had to do something. She tried to drown out her own nightmares.

She couldn't explain it in words, but whenever she was around Bryan – be it in the real world or on LYOKO, he had always kept her from harm's way. There had always been others protecting her. Aelita was frequently the damsel in distress.

Now it was her turn to protect those she cared about.

"Bryan. I…I think I have an idea."

* * *

><p>Aelita got out her phone and removed the data chip. Bryan looked at her curiously.<p>

"What are you doing?"

"Setting up a distraction," was her curt reply, as she then turned the volume of her phone up to full, hoping that no one would actually call her. She headed to the back door and opened it slightly.

Bryan caught on to her plan. Spurred by her determination, he knew he had to have courage as well. _Forget about the past_… He closed his eyes in an attempt to shut off his current train of thought.

"How far can you throw?" he croaked.

Obviously, she didn't have the arm of an NFL quarterback – okay her throwing capabilities were mediocre at best – she might not buy them enough time. Bryan crouched down beside her.

"Swap phones. You make the call," he said, and they exchanged cell phones.

Bryan took one step outside and threw the phone into the forest as hard as he could, while Aelita counted down in her head.

At zero, she pressed 'call' and moments later she could hear her discarded phone picking up, her Kingdom Hearts ringtone blaring into the quiet night. From the exposed sliver of the door, Aelita could make out two figures swiftly changing course and heading for the forest. Bryan held his breath. It had worked.

Just as the spectres reached the edge of the forest, they stopped and faded into darkness, leaving Aelita and Bryan stunned.

They were gone.

Aelita looked down at Bryan's phone. There was no longer any flashing red light; no activated Tower.

"It's over…?" she said hesitantly.

Bryan too was shocked, but he was already regaining his senses. "Looks that way," a very relieved he muttered, his whole body clammy and plastered with cold sweat. He wrapped his arms around Aelita as if she was a giant teddy bear – _warm and soft_.

"Thanks."

"Don't mention it… Uh…shall we get going?" said Aelita, face red as a tomato. Deep down inside though, she didn't want to break off the hug just yet.

Even though it was getting darker and the walk back to Kadic had an undoubtedly spooky atmosphere, Bryan didn't feel as scared. Besides, he had Aelita by his side, though every so often he'd glance down at his phone, to make sure that none of the Towers on LYOKO were reactivated.

Aelita wanted to ask him about the men dressed in black suits. Were they really secret agents from her past? But she didn't want to distress Bryan. Even though they were only spectres, he was clearly uncomfortable at the sight of them. And that led to another problem.

"Hey."

"…Hmm?"

"What do you think that was all about? I thought XANA was incapacitated." With the amount of data it had retrieved from her, they assumed that it'd be months before XANA struck again.

Bryan nodded wearily. "There's no way it could return so soon."

They walked in silence, until Aelita had a notion. "Hmm…what if it's like XANA's excess data…like a ghost file?"

"You mean like an essence?"

"Yes. After all, XANA has attacked more frequently this year. Maybe there are still traces of it around LYOKO that can trigger Towers…like _lingering sentiments_."

They looked at one another. If XANA's 'conscience' was capable of activating Towers, the any hope for a brief period of stability and a return to typical high school drama just went out the window.

* * *

><p><strong>A-TAN<br>(I mean, AELITA)**

The past half hour had been tense, but Aelita and Bryan got back to school safe and sound, just in time to grab some dinner.

"Well…this day ended with a bit more excitement than usual," said Bryan, as they headed back to their dormitories.

"I think that's a big understatement," Aelita laughed.

"I think you're right." Bryan seemed to be back to normal. "Excluding the last part of today, it was awesome. Thanks for showing me around your old home."

"No problem. I'm really glad you came. I had a lot of fun."

"Same. And what you did back there against those…spectres…you were incredibly brave. I'd be lost without you."

Aelita blushed. "Um, no problem. Most of the time it seems to be you being the hero and saving me. So I thought I'd return the favour" she replied bashfully.

"Ah. Still, I'm really grateful. I owe you one."

"Hmm…okay for starters, you can escort me to get a new phone."

"Seems reasonable. Done."

"And you have to finish reading _Alice in Wonderland_ to me," Aelita added, prodding the boy's arm.

"I did. It's not my fault you fell asleep."

"What if I said please? Can you finish reading _Alice in Wonderland_ to me, please?" she insisted.

"No."

Aelita crossed her arms. Bryan ruffled her pink hair and laughed at her attempt to straighten it out. "You realize I'm only joking, right?"

"Maybe. I don't know. You're so…deceitful. Especially to me," she pouted.

"I won't deny that. But when was the last time I actually refused to take you up on any of your requests?"

"Chemistry lab two weeks ago. When I told you to add more potassium into the beaker."

"You do realize that would've caused a large explosion and even worse, detention with Mrs. Hertz."

"Alright. You never told me what A-tan means."

"What's that?"

Aelita let out an exasperated sigh. "Aren't you ever going to tell me?"

"…Maybe one day…when the time is right."

"You admit to calling me 'A-tan' then."

"Call you what?" Plainly, this conversation was going nowhere.

"Why don't you just Google it?" Bryan suggested.

"Well…I…because I want your explanation." _Of course she could Google it_. "You're a good storyteller. Almost as good as Odd," she hoped the complement would spur him on.

"I know I am," Bryan said cheerfully.

"Well?"

"Right…A-tan is short for Athena."

The Greek goddess of wisdom. But that didn't help her one bit. "Can you please elaborate?"

"Sorry A-tan, maybe some other time."

Aelita stuck out her tongue. "Fine, I'm going to bed."

"Same. It's…it's been a long day," said Bryan, letting out a yawn while rubbing the back of his head. Aelita smiled and hugged him. Just because.

"Good night sleepyhead," she murmured contentedly into his ear.

"Y-yeah. You too," Bryan murmured back, hoping that 'sleepyhead' wouldn't become _his_ de facto nickname.

* * *

><p><strong>Fragmented Legacy Fun Fact 023:<strong>

Similar to how people frequently tell Odd to 'shut up', Aelita playfully hitting Bryan's shoulder (usually left) is another recurring tradition within this story.

* * *

><p><strong>A|N's:<strong>

Sorry for the late update; snowstorms grr. I know I've been focusing a lot on Aelita these past chapters, but next chapter will definitely include the whole team!

Feel free to leave a comment, and as always, thanks for reading Code LYOKO: Fragmented Legacies =)


	24. Getting (it) together

**24: Getting (it) together**

* * *

><p><strong>YUMI<strong>

Yumi's eyebrows furrowed while reading the morning paper during breakfast.

There had been another sexual assault in downtown Paris, the sixth case in two weeks. Police assumed that they were related, but had very few leads. It seemed that no one – not even the female victims – witnessed or recalled anything. Even more disturbing was that the victims had all been teenage university students.

She detested men like that, who hated women or enjoyed harassing them for their own sickening pleasures.

To a lesser extent, when she started out at Kadic, she rarely socialized with her male classmates for fear of being taken advantage of. She was fiercely independent and it worked; guys avoided her, though they gossiped behind her back.

Then she met Ulrich, and she knew instantly that he wasn't like the others. He – and the other LYOKO warriors – genuinely cared for her well-being. It didn't take long before Yumi realized that she liked his company. Despite their differences, he made her feel included and recognized where the fine line was most of the time.

Lately, it's been quite clear Ulrich meant more to her than she cared to admit…

Her mind drifted back to the concert tickets on her desk. Saturday was less than 16 hours away, and it couldn't come any sooner. And she wouldn't be going alone…

* * *

><p><strong><em>2 days ago…<em>**

_She was feeling nervous as she tried to come with the best way to tell him. Usually, she had no problems when it came to conversing with Ulrich. Then again, the context was a bit different…_

_Yumi bit her lip. What if he said no? Not only would that be a blow to her self-esteem, but her concert experience would also be marginally decreased._

_Her heart sank when Ulrich walked out of the classroom. He was chatting with Melanie who appeared quite content. However she knew better than to jump to conclusions. Perhaps they were merely discussing exponents or isosceles triangles. Still, every time…there was the inevitable interruption._

_She was about to walk away when Ulrich called her name. Yumi put on a smile and brushed a strand of her long black hair from her face._

_Ulrich was smiling as well. He reached into his bag and handed her a piece of paper with writing on both sides._

_"My fantastic analysis of hydrochloric acid, as promised."_

_This was another thing that she enjoyed about being with him. Running gags and random moments never got old. _

_"Thanks. Been looking forward to becoming a master of HCl with this."_

_"Well, we all know that the world is in dire need of HCl gurus these days…" Ulrich said casually, which made Yumi laugh._

_"By the way…are you busy this weekend?"_

_"Not really. Why?"_

_She sensed the opportunity. "Remember the concert tickets I won?"_

_Sadly, Ulrich wasn't really on the same page. "Mhmm. For having the sexi – er – cutest…wait no! I mean – most amazing Halloween costume!" he said sheepishly, blushing furiously._

_Yumi rolled her eyes, her face was also red. He thought it was sexy and cute… If Odd had said any of that, he would've ceased to exist. But she decided to forgive Ulrich's slip-up this one time._

_"Yeah that one. The concert's this Saturday and…they gave me two tickets. I was wondering if…"_

Now_ Ulrich understood. She was asking him out. His heart stuck out of his chest, triumphant._

_"…you'd like to go see U2 with me?" said Yumi, her voice barely above a whisper._

_"S–sure Yumi. I'm down for that!" Ulrich wanted to add 'awesome', 'cool', 'I can't wait!' but stuck with his calm demeanour._

_Yumi grinned. _He said yes._ "Great. The bus leaves downtown around noon and we'll be staying the night in Nice, if that's fine with you?"_

_"Yep. I'm alright with that. Wow…best field trip ever!"_

_"You up for the eight hour ride?" she teased._

_Ulrich shook his head. "I'm sure we'll come up with something to keep us occupied." Yumi nearly flushed crimson again just from one simple word: _we_._

_"I guess I should start listening to some U2 music so I don't feel left out…" he added._

_"You've never heard of U2?" Yumi was aghast._

_"Uh…they're a band right? Two members whose names start with U?" A glance at his friend's expression told him that he was incredibly wrong._

_And he made things worse with a joke. "Hey, if I joined, it'd be U3! Heh…get it?"_

_Yumi got it, mentally snickering at Ulrich's lameness. But her expression remained hardened. Ulrich gulped, hoping that she wasn't thinking of giving him another research topic to write on._

* * *

><p><strong>JEREMIE<strong>

Jeremie didn't even have time to register the betrayal.

He stepped out of the bathroom when he was grabbed by two of his male classmates and forcefully dragged into their bedroom. Despite the provocative description, given this story's T rating, surely Jeremie wouldn't be subjected to some hot morning manlove intimacy?

"Guys, what the hell is going on?" he asked furiously. His captors didn't respond. He struggled but they clearly overpowered him. He was set down on a folding chair and his arms were tied. Jeremie looked into their eyes, but Ulrich and Odd weren't being possessed by XANA.

Okay, being betrayed by Odd and his crazy schemes didn't really come as a surprise. Heck, he went through the school's entire stock of doughnuts and had some weird food battle competition – which he lost – just for a chance to talk to a girl he considered a goddess.

But if the normally-sane Ulrich Stern was involved as well…

Satisfied with their handiwork, Odd remained standing while Ulrich grabbed another chair and plopped down on it. They were grinning. Jeremie was not amused.

"Alright, what's this about?" It looked as though he was being interrogated.

Ulrich cleared his throat. "You see –"

"That's a cool-looking shirt," Odd blurted.

Jeremie was perplexed. He had been wearing the same cyan turtleneck for ages. Ulrich glared at his co-conspirator.

"I thought we're doing the good cop bad cop," Odd shrugged.

"You know I can hear you guys, right?"

"Yeah. Let's ignore the ridiculous things Odd's saying," Ulrich turned his attention back to Jeremie.

"So…Aelita-"

"Do I really need to be tied up like this?"

"Oh, that's to stop you from escaping. We needed your full cooperation."

"I have half a mind to send you two to a mental institution. Or arrested. And possibly flogged."

"You can do all that after we get our point across. Now Aelita…"

"What about her?"

Ulrich sighed. Despite Jeremie's genius over every academic subject from chemistry to world history, there was one area he was absolutely clueless about. They were probably going to miss breakfast over this.

"When are you planning on asking her out?" Odd asked.

Suddenly, it was like the temperature of the whole room had risen by five degrees. Jeremie shifted uncomfortably in his seat.

"I…don't understand the question," he mumbled quietly.

"Let's generalize further. You like her, don't you?" Ulrich said quietly. Jeremie looked down at his feet and didn't reply, even though the answer was simple and obvious.

Yes, he liked her. Aelita was the only girl that made him feel that way; incredibly bright, stunningly beautiful and angelically innocent. His heart skipped several beats every time he made her laugh.

His first kiss had been with her, and he was pretty sure it was her first kiss as well. He recalled that paralyzing moment – his brain suffering from emotional overload – when Aelita detached her lips from his, her face radiant.

Things stayed the same after that, though he appreciated their companionship nevertheless. Still, Jeremie remained optimistic that they could…be more than friends. He imagined them as a couple, walking hand in hand, taking in the amazing world around them.

But he wasn't sure why his feet were still rooted to the ground. Was he afraid to confess? Maybe.

"Hey!" Ulrich waved his hand in front of Jeremie's face.

"Huh?"

"You like Aelita, don't you?"

He nodded. They've probably already figured it out.

"Does she know how you feel?"

"No."

"Why don't you tell her? A lot of stories would've been much shorter if the main character took the initiative and expressed his feelings," Odd pointed out.

Jeremie mumbled something along the lines of "she doesn't think the same way."

Ulrich shook his head. "As a non-partisan observer, I know for a fact that she's heads over heels for you. You two are always so happy together."

"You're aware that Aelita's been sleeping in the supercomputer for most of her life. She doesn't have a…comprehensive understanding about relationships. You'll have to make the first move," said Odd in a more serious tone.

"Wait. Why do you guys care so much?"

Ulrich chuckled. "Is our friendship an adequate reason? You and Aelita are really close – even Sissi acknowledges that. The problem is getting it together. You have one guy hoping something will happen out of the blue–" he stared pointedly at Jeremie.

"And the other person simply doesn't know what love is. Besides, you have to admit Aelita's something else. It won't be long before she's taken."

Jeremie thought of one person in particular. He had noticed Aelita had been hanging out with Bryan more recently. Then there had been the incident where she was caught coming out of his room in the morning – he wasn't convinced that nothing had happened. He was jealous and he knew it.

Apparently, so did Ulrich. He smirked. Typical high school love triangle? Been there, done that.

"Don't worry. They're only friends."

"For now," Jeremie muttered under his breath.

"Actually, he thinks you're already going out with her and I quote: 'Aelita's really lucky to have a guy like him,' wide grin, etc. Ah…Canadians, so polite and diplomatic," Odd added. That lightened Jeremie's mood considerably.

"Plus, I've overheard him on the phone talking to someone named 'Val', so there's a good chance he's already going out with her."

"So here's your chance. We all have plans this weekend, leaving you and Aelita the odd ones out."

"I don't know…"

"You know her interests better than us. Take her out somewhere – it can be as simple as dinner and a walk downtown. I'm sure she'll enjoy it. When was the last time you asked her to hang out?"

"Remember Einstein, what's the point of doing nothing? Might as well take a chance and find out!"

"Great, I'm listening to advice from two competent love masters. One who has had more rejections than fingers and toes, and the other who can't admit his feelings either."

Ulrich's cheeks heated up while he loosened the cuffs binding Jeremie to the chair.

"Ouch. So my record isn't that great. I have a shot at going one for one this November with Catherine though!"

Jeremie got up and no longer felt like sending his friends into an asylum. Although he rarely offered praise to anyone, he was grateful to have had this morale-boosting conversation. Odd was right, what's the worst that could happen?

He pictured Aelita's smiling face and his lips curled upwards as well. Getting it together…that was the hardest _and _shortest part; and things could only go up from there.

* * *

><p><strong>ULRICH<strong>

Ulrich was hungry and wasn't paying any attention in chemistry.

The best field trip ever was only a day away, and he was going with his best friend. Just the two of them.

He had never gotten around to letting Yumi know how he really felt about her. He had been hesitant, not wanting to destroy their friendship and was scared of being rejected. And even if they started going out, his aptitude in relationships was either zero or a very small decimal value.

Then again, even Jeremie was asking Aelita. And Odd…well, his ineptitude didn't hide his familiarity with relationships and he now had a shot with Catherine, something Ulrich thought was nearly impossible to pull off.

Furthermore, exams were not for another several months and XANA was currently inactive. And the most festive time of the year – Christmas – was just around the corner. And maybe…the right moment was too…

"…your homework this weekend will be to research on an acid or base of your choice and write a two-page report, which will conclude this unit."

Ulrich abruptly stopped daydreaming as he absorbed the words 'research', 'acid' and 'report'. Did he just hear Mrs. Hertz correctly?

"I'll be looking for typical properties: pH, density, melting and boiling points, as well as diagrams. I'd also like a section on applications of your acid or base."

Ulrich recalled the contents of his analysis on hydrochloric acid for Yumi, and was shocked when he realized that he had included all of the aforementioned items.

Coincidental circumstances were an oddity in Ulrich's life. But when it happened, awesomeness followed closely behind. He couldn't help but look smug, and if his mouth were larger he'd be grinning from ear to ear. This marked the first time he'd completed an assignment well before the due date; in fact, before it was even announced.

No homework this weekend…

Of course, none of this would've happened without Yumi. It was as if she knew such an assignment was on the horizon. _She was a godsend_.

Ulrich also felt an urge to give her a hug. However: a) sudden embracing was not in his character and b) he wasn't sure whether Yumi would be as receptive to being bear-hugged. He decided to settle on a simple 'thank-you'.

This weekend was getting better and better.

* * *

><p><strong>JEREMIE<strong>

As his classmates began to pack up and leave, Jeremie walked over to Aelita's desk. Out of the corner of his eye, he caught Ulrich and Odd smirking at him and his nervousness returned. Right before they left, Odd flashed Jeremie a thumbs-up.

Aelita zipped her backpack and looked up. "Hey Jeremie. What's up?" she asked cheerfully.

"You're going to rehearsal soon?"

She nodded. "Just have to get some things from my room."

_Okay_… Aelita's smile was turning his brain into mush. He stared at her feet and murmured softly and quickly:

"Wasdringifyourfreethaturdaya ndmayberhangoutordosomethege ther?"

Even though one day it could be the longest word in the dictionary, Aelita didn't catch any of it. She giggled and grabbed Jeremie's arm.

"I'm sorry, what was that?" She leaned in towards him until they were shoulder to shoulder. Jeremie's face turned deep red as his eyes found their way to hers.

"Uh…" He started losing his train of thought. Aelita's chuckling wasn't making the situation any easier.

Aelita kind of liked having this 'power' over Jeremie. It was a pretty nifty means of getting what she wanted. Plus, hearing him stuttering and seeing the shy side of him was somewhat sweet.

She heard her watch go off and broke off from Jeremie. "Hey I have to go. You can tell me when I come back okay?"

However, just as she began walking away from him: "are you busy tomorrow?"

Aelita turned around. "Nope. Why'd you ask?"

"I was wondering if you'd like to…you know…hang out or something? Go for a walk downtown…grab something to eat…"

Just as Ulrich predicted, Aelita was pleasantly surprised. Apart from the factory, Jeremie rarely asked her to go anywhere. And he had never asked her to go out for the sake of recreation. In addition, Aelita had been waiting for a chance to see the sights of France's capital and take a short break from school; she never really got to with Bryan because of time constraints.

"…the weather's supposed to be good until the evening," Jeremie continued. "I mean…it's okay if you don't want to," he added quickly.

Aelita shook her head. "No – Jeremie, that's a wonderful idea. Of course I'll come!" her face broke into a grin and her green eyes sparkled.

"R–really?" Jeremie couldn't believe it. He smiled back nervously.

"Yes!" she said happily, unable to contain her excitement that for once, Jeremie had proposed an excursion – and it was definitely and excellent choice. Aelita threw her arms around him. This time, Jeremie's senses were intact and he hugged her back. She smelled of the fresh open sky but her body was warm against his.

No words needed to be said. Jeremie was on cloud nine, and his heart was doing cartwheels. On the other hand, Aelita was equally as thrilled. This was why she held Jeremie in such high regard. Other people might think of him as just another creative genius with no sense of relaxation. However, every once in a while, he had one of these brilliant plans. He always seemed to know just what she wanted.

When they broke apart yet again, their faces were still etched with smiles.

"I really need to get going," Aelita insisted.

"Okay. I'll fill you in on the rest of the details tomorrow at breakfast then?"

"Sounds good Jeremie. Can't wait!"

_Mission accomplished. _Jeremie headed back to his room to do some research – aka Google for things to do in Paris. It had been a while since he had set foot in the urban metropolis, and he wanted things to go smoothly tomorrow.

No school. No XANA. Just a chance to spend time with the person he cared about most.

* * *

><p><strong>BRYAN<strong>

Bryan was worried.

His friend couldn't see his face from over 6 000 kilometres away, but his tone said it all.

"So…XANA definitely knows something about…_them_?" Valerie asked over the phone.

"The ones we've been looking for, I'm sure of it," Bryan replied wearily. The sight of the spectres had creeped him out. He remembered feeling completely useless and incapacitated by his own memories.

Then again, the brief experience of their psychological torture seemed to have that effect on his mind.

"Hey. It's going to be alright. All that's in the past now," Valerie said softly. "I'm sure we'll find a way once it wakes up."

"…yeah." Bryan responded with uncertainty. Confrontation was inevitable, and he was an easy target if he couldn't overcome his fears.

"By the way…I have another favour to ask of you."

"You know, I should really start charging you for my services."

"I thought my eternal gratitude is more than sufficient payment. I'll throw in $50 in Monopoly money."

"Eww I already get enough Monopoly money from you every time I beat you in that game."

"Hey, I'm pretty sure that you're not allowed to rob the bank every time you pass GO," Bryan pointed out.

"Meh, robberies are what keeps long boring board games interesting. How about this, you do my English homework for a month."

"Sure, I'll start it at the end of June."

"You suck Bri, that's when summer vacation starts. I'll be in remedial classes because I'd have failed by then," Valerie pouted, which earned a chuckle from the other end.

"So what do you want me to do?"

"Stop robbing banks."

"Haha. What else?"

"Can you look up someone for me? Alan Meyer, former president of Deckard Inc. His name's familiar, but I can't wrap my head around it. The supercomputer didn't yield much information either."

"Wasn't he a good poker player with his own card franchise?"

"That's what I told Aelita, but she didn't believe me."

"Hmm…Alan Meyer, Deckard. Got it. I'll tell you if I find anything."

"Awesome, thanks Val."

"No prob."

"Alright I have to go escort Aelita to her rehearsals and then babysit two adorable toddlers."

"Nice. Tell them Aunty Val said hi."

"Done. But they just get excited and ask when you're going to visit them."

Valerie laughed. "One day, I promise. Glad to know I'm still extremely popular overseas. Anyways, you take care of yourself okay?"

"As always."

A pause. "Love you Bri," Valerie said softly.

Bryan smiled. "And I love you too, Val."

* * *

><p><strong>AELITA<strong>

Aelita returned to her room after another SubDigitals practice session and dinner with Bryan. She stripped her clothes off and collapsed onto her bed half-naked and let out a great big sigh.

She was happy and confused, but not happy over her confusion or puzzled over why she was content.

Jeremie had asked her out on a _date_. That was what Yumi had said, after they had shared their plans for the upcoming weekend. At first her thoughts were focused on walking along the streets of Paris; she could hardly wait. And now, it was all now sinking in.

_So technically, are we...boyfriend and girlfriend?_ Aelita honestly didn't know, but was aware that she was blushing.

_Jeremie…_ He was the one who re-introduced her to the real world, the one who spent hours talking to her. She really appreciated that. For a while, he was her only friend.

Aelita knew that he cared for her deeply, and likewise, she cared about him a lot as well. She enjoyed his company and it wasn't just because they shared similar interests and were often on the same level intellectually.

However, Aelita wasn't sure if she was ready to _love_. Yes, there were always rumours going around the classroom that she and Jeremie were dating. Future _Mr. and Mrs. Einstein_. Although Aelita never spoke of it to anyone, she was starting to grow tired of the teasing. They were gossiping about her as if her future was already set in stone.

She and Jeremie were very close. But still, shouldn't she have a choice?

Besides, her understanding of dating was through observing other couples and television programs that tended to feature very artificial couples. It seemed that boyfriend and girlfriend were virtually inseparable, they spent nearly all of their time with one another; so what would happen to her other relationships?

_Like with Bryan_…

The two LYOKO children had gotten to know each other better, and Aelita found herself spending more time with him than with Jeremie as of late.

He was different, but not in a bad way. He wasn't exactly as smart as Jeremie – especially with computers – but he was by no means the dullest tool in the shed.

Bryan also didn't take things as seriously and didn't seem to be a stickler for the rules. He was easy-going, he liked to joke and fool around. Similar to Odd, but Aelita felt that Bryan had a better grasp on humour; he made corny and lame things laughable.

The more Aelita thought about it, she realized that she also enjoyed being with him. Of course, he had an air of mystery surrounding him. Aelita felt that there were still a lot of things that she didn't know, from why he calls her A-tan (she still hadn't Googled it), to his murky past.

He also tended to deceive or outright lie to her and could be a bit immature, but to Aelita, it was cute and it warmed up her insides. She liked him, but he was always uncomfortable whenever she got too close. As with Jeremie, Aelita never felt any awkwardness by their close contact, and he was so comforting and gentle…

_Bryan was only a friend_…she reminded herself – albeit a good one. _He probably already has a special someone back in Canada._

Her feelings were all over the place, so she decided to drop the subject for now and take things one step at a time. After all, in the end, _everything shall surely be alright_.

She wrapped herself in her warm sheets and closed her eyes. But she still too excited to fall asleep. Whether or not she was going as a close friend or Jeremie's girlfriend didn't matter; tomorrow was definitely going to be a day to remember.

And she was right. Saturday December 2, 2006 would end up being another day that completely changed her life, forever.

* * *

><p><strong>VII<br>**

Minutes before midnight, a white van arrived outside a lonely warehouse just outside of the French capital.

The driver turned the engine off and stepped out. His appearance exerted elegance and power. And though the driveway was nearly pitch-black with no illumination, he was wearing dark shades to conceal his identity.

The door on the passenger's side of the van opened and a woman emerged, dressed in the same manner as her partner. They both appeared to be nearly identical in height and facial features, save for hair length.

She said something in a heavy eastern European accent and he gave a curt nod. He rolled his suit sleeve up to reset his watch to the correct time zone.

Nothing but silence greeted them, as if the whole city was sleeping (obviously) or holding their breath. The two headed to the back of their van, each taking out a briefcase and a duffel bag.

The two figures then headed towards the warehouse entrance. Before stepping inside the vestibule, the man took one last look upwards at the night sky that yielded no visible stars due to the light pollution.

**VII  
>Age: Unknown<br>Rating: Unknown  
>Unknown: Unknown<strong>

"_Tempus est nunc*_," he muttered under his breath, and stepped into the darkness.

_11:59:57…11:59:58…11:59:59…12:00:00_

**_*The time is now_.**

* * *

><p><strong>Fragmented Legacy Fun Fact 024:<strong>

If you look closely at the summary/title block, it's now Aelita S. & Jeremie B; wonder what that means… Happy Belated Valentine's Day 2013 =D

* * *

><p><strong>A|N's<strong>

This concludes Season II of CL:FL. **100 000** words in **24** chapters! =D

I'll be taking another break from writing. This chapter ends things on a high note though, and I have an idea of what to do next. If there is a Season III, it will be both longer and shorter than the previous two, if that makes any sense.

Finally, a BIG thanks to everyone who has read/thumbs-upped/reviewed/spread the word about this story. I appreciate that a large majority of comments have been very insightful and have helped me along the way; and I hope that this story reflects that. You're all AWESOME!

Feel free to leave a comment, and as always, thanks for reading Code LYOKO: Fragmented Legacies =)

* * *

><p><strong>Replies to Reviews<strong>

**[_Sartruce_]  
><strong>Glad you enjoy the funnies, I've always felt that adding them – without overdoing it – enhances my story and sometimes the plot (my favourite books also incorporate humour). Yeah Yumi's a challenging character, but I'm glad I didn't just write about Aelita. Yumi offers a more rational perspective and her relationship with Ulrich is special and unique. Haha when a profile lacks details, it means they exist but I don't have a concrete idea yet of what they look like or how big their role will be.

**[_Mel72000_]  
><strong>I got the idea to do the snippets from the awesome graphic novel _Scott Pilgrim_. They really help set the tone with a hint of humour and minimizing the length of introductions. And thanks for pointing out Yumi and Ulrich's avatars…don't know why I thought they were ninjas (maybe reading too much _Naruto_ =)).

**[_EAB84_]  
><strong>Thanks! Haha high school English paid off =D I agree with you on Aelita and Bryan's relationship. I may have overextended a bit while trying to work it into the main plot of the story. With the ups and downs of relationships being a key part of CL:FL, I'm mainly focusing in this department. Nevertheless, I hope you're enjoying it so far!

**[_LyokoWarrior915_]  
><strong>Bryan combines my interest in _Star Wars _and _Naruto_! I gave him Nagato's powers because I thought a Lightsaber was too overpowering (slice through anything!) and resembled Ulrich's weapon too much. As for a pairing between Aelita and Bryan…I think this chapter clarifies things =). And Alan Meyer, I think he's a baddie from the new Lyoko series – Evolution.


	25. The Longest Day 11:00 AM - 12:00 PM

**25: The Longest Day [11:00 AM – 12:00 PM]**

* * *

><p><strong>THE FOLLOWING TAKES PLACE BETWEEN 11:00 AM AND 12:00 PM ON DECEMBER 2, 2006.<strong>

**EVENTS OCCUR IN REAL TIME.**

* * *

><p><strong><em>11:00:00 … 11:00:01 … 11:00:02 … 11:00:03 … 11:00:04 … 11:00:05<em>**

Aelita gathered speed as she leapt towards the wall. The moment her skates made contact with the brick surface, she bent her knees and rebounded off, only to realize that she had mistimed her jump. She was losing altitude too quickly. All she could do was brace for collision with the pavement.

But that never happened. A pair of arms had reached out and caught her.

"Geez, trying this stuff already?" she heard Bryan smirking from behind.

**BRYAN GREEN  
><em>Bio: LYOKO warrior, Kadic student, CAN<em>  
><em>Has: blue hair, maple syrup with his pancakes<em>**

"You told me to be ambitious," Aelita mumbled, aware that she was still in his arms.

**AELITA STONES (SCHAEFFER)_  
>Bio: LYOKO warrior, Kadic student, FRA<br>Has: pink hair, various nicknames (Princess, Mrs. Einstein, A-tan)_**

"Perhaps, but I also distinctly remember saying safety first."

"I was being safe. I knew you were going to catch me," she smiled at him.

Bryan looked startled, and he let go of her when he saw Odd approaching them without his trademark grin.

"Hey Captain B, Princess," he panted. "Jeremie's freaking out about not being able to get a hold of you two."

**ODD DELLA ROBBIA  
><em>Bio<em>:_ LYOKO warrior, Kadic troublemaker, ITA  
>Has: a Master's Degree in Being Awesome <em>**

Aelita gasped and reached into her pockets, coming up empty-handed. "I must've left my phone in my room."

However, Bryan felt he had a more pressing matter that needed to be addressed: "wait, I'm Captain B now?"

"Well, I think it's a great nickname. It gives you authority, if we're ever on a boat or plane," Aelita chuckled before turning to Odd. "Anyways, what's the matter?"

"XANA."

"You sure?" Bryan frowned. Aelita looked equally concerned. It had only been a month. Surely XANA hadn't gone through all of her memories for the Key that quickly?

"Yep. Jeremie discovered an activated Tower and all that jazz. He's probably made it to the factory by now."

"Alright, let's go then. We don't want to keep him waiting."

* * *

><p><strong><em>11:08:33 … 11:08:34 … 11:08:35 … 11:08:36 … 11:08:37 … 11:08:38<em>**

At the city centre, Ulrich and Yumi were running for their lives.

You would be too, if a shadowy figure in a black suit appears out of nowhere and starts sprinting after you.

They rounded another corner, racing past several startled pedestrians when Yumi grabbed Ulrich's hand and turned sharply into an alleyway. She turned around, but couldn't see their pursuer.

Panting heavily and senses still on high alert, Ulrich pointed to the door of a small warehouse. Yumi nodded. The windows were tinted dark grey, a sign that it had been vacated for some time.

While Yumi watched for any sign of the figure in black, Ulrich gently turned the knob clockwise. It was unlocked, so he opened it and they stepped inside. Then, he took out his mobile and tried calling Jeremie.

"Damn it!" he cursed moments later. He had no connection.

**ULRICH STERN  
><em>Bio<em>: _LYOKO warrior, Kadic student, GER_  
><em>Has: a crush on Yumi (will be in denial when asked)<em>**

"Aelita's not picking up either. Hopefully, they're working on something," Yumi muttered.

**YUMI ISHIYAMA  
><em>Bio<em>: _LYOKO warrior, Kadic student, JPN  
>Has: a crush on Ulrich (will be in denial when asked)<em>**

Ulrich noticed that she was still holding onto his hand, but this was no time to be thinking of stuff like that. Figuring that it was safer indoors, they wandered further inside the industrial building in silence, the light on their phones guiding them. Barely any sunlight shone through the grimy cobweb-filled windows.

It was quiet, apart from the dripping water from the overhead pipes and their soft footsteps. Loose debris and trinkets covered with dust littered the floor, and there were numerous boxes stacked up on all sides.

At first, they thought the Men in Black – the agents after Aelita's father and his supercomputer – were after them, until they saw the figure shimmer in and out of existence like a bad black-and-white hologram.

Just like XANA's spectres. But how could XANA have spectre templates of the Men in Black if the latter had never come close to the abandoned factory? Bryan had also said that he didn't expect XANA to be active for another several months while it searched for the Key within Aelita's memories. So what the heck was going on?

Furthermore, Ulrich was getting tired of being on the run from XANA. As much as he was committed to thwarting attacks from the evil artificial intelligence unit, this was supposed to be one of his better and less stressful weekends before the winter break.

He was also supposed to be enjoying his first date with Yumi.

Okay, maybe that was fast-tracking it a bit. She had invited him to a U2 concert, courtesy of being the best-dressed for Halloween. And they had a train to catch at noon which would take them to Nice. Everything had started to take a turn for the better.

And now his clothes were covered in a fine layer of dust and sweat, and he was taking refuge in a warehouse from another one of XANA's attacks.

* * *

><p><strong><em>11:18:19 … 11:18:20 … 11:18:21 … 11:18:22 … 11:18:23 … 11:18:24<em>**

"What in the world?" At the factory, Jeremie Belpois was flustered by what he saw on the screen in front of him.

**JEREMIE BELPOIS  
><em>Bio<em>: _LYOKO warrior, Kadic genius, FRA  
>Has: directed 95% of LYOKO missions (success rate: 99%)<em>**

Team LYOKO was at it again, proving to the few sponsors of their cause that they work around the clock to keep XANA at bay. Even on weekends.

The good news was that Bryan no longer looked as emaciated as when he healed Aelita, his hair was sky-blue again. Even better, Jeremie managed to virtualize them to within walking distance of the Tower.

Unfortunately XANA had gone berserk. Although the LYOKO warriors were accustomed to being outnumbered, a ratio of 1:20 was unheard of. They were instantly surrounded by no less than 50 Crabs and Tarantulas. Neither Odd nor Bryan had enough firepower, and Aelita couldn't possibly conjure up an energy field large enough to block everything.

"Oh shi–" But Odd never got cuss about their predicament; XANA's monsters opened fire. Both he and Aelita felt something grab their hand as everything became a dark blur –

And they found themselves behind giant sand dune.

"What just hap–"

"Super smoke," said Bryan wearily, shaking his head as if he had a migraine. "Didn't know what else to do."

"Hey, you have to be more careful with your life points. You only have fifteen left, and there's still a ton of monsters to deal with."

"Don't be so hard on him, Jeremie. We'd all be done for if he didn't copy Wilhelm's technique."

"William," Bryan corrected.

"Huh? You were the one who – hmph," Aelita crossed her hands over her chest.

"Besides Einstein, I'm still at full heal–"

Odd was interrupted by a lone Crab, who shot him in the arm. Annoyed, he spun around and shot a laser arrow at it. Just as the projectile was about to make impact, the monster phased out and the passed it completely.

"No fair!" Odd complained.

Aelita looked skeptical. Crabs couldn't turn invisible. And unless she was mistaken, there seemed to be something different about these monsters, their colours were all faded, like they weren't even real…

That's when it clicked.

"Shoot again," she told Odd, who fired two more rounds. The first projectile went straight through, as the Crab again flitted out of existence. However, the second arrow managed to clip the Crab's head as it materialized.

With one palm stretched out, Aelita pulled the monster towards her, before engulfing it with an energy field. Rather than exploding into data packets, it vanished in a cloud of black dust.

"Well, there's something new," Odd remarked.

"Remnants," said Bryan, nodding. "You're getting quite good at using the Wind element, A-tan."

Back in the control room, Jeremie was puzzled. "Remnants? What are you talking about?"

"I'll explain later," Aelita replied.

So XANA hadn't returned after all. Because it had stepped up its attacks over the past couple of months, its excess manifestations still lingered around LYOKO, capable of activating Towers in what was nothing more than a phony attack, but a threat nonetheless.

"You think Yumi and Ulrich are alright?"

"I can't seem to get in touch with them," Jeremie admitted. "Right now – whether this is the real XANA or not – Aelita has to get to that Tower."

He leaned back on his chair, trying to formulate a plan. Yumi and Ulrich were unable to help; they may even be in need of it. Bryan's life points were nearly exhausted, so it was just Aelita and Odd against a small army that could phase out at whim, making them all the more difficult to destroy. They didn't have the time or the resources to fight. So…

"Alright, new plan," said Jeremie as he uploaded vehicles.

* * *

><p><strong><em>11:29:59 … 11:30:00 … 11:30:01 … 11:30:02 … 11:30:03 … 11:30:04<em>**

XANA did not let a locked door stand in its way.

The spectre walked right through the brick wall, tracking its targets through their failed phone calls to the factory. With its superior hearing, it followed the sound of footsteps through small pathways created by the boxes, which led to a corridor on the other side.

**_~ - ~ - ~ - CL:FL - ~ - ~ - ~ _**

There are four steps to foiling a XANA attack: virtualize onto LYOKO, head to activated Tower, eliminate all monsters, and have Aelita deactivate said Tower.

For the first time ever, step three was ignored.

Aelita and Bryan were on the OverBike, with Odd above them on his flying surfboard. The three headed straight into the horde of pale monsters that started shooting at them. Odd was trying his best to dodge, not even bothering to shoot back yet, while Aelita used her energy field to deflect the lasers.

"Ready A-tan?"

She nodded and slowly relinquished her hold on his waist, unsure of whether this head-on approach would work. Bryan sensed her hesitating.

"Hey, don't worry. Everything will surely be alright, right?"

"R…right."

Bryan let go of the handles and focused all his energy to the palms of his hands.

"Now!" said Jeremie, as Bryan leapt off the OverBike. Aelita activated her wings and flew up behind Odd, who stopped dodging and started firing rapidly in front of him. At the same time, Bryan hurled an invisible blast of energy at the Crabs and Tarantulas, knocking some over and creating a narrow unguarded opening to the Tower. Out of life points, he was then devirutalized.

Next, Odd turned to Aelita, out of ammo. "It's up to you, Princess!" he yelled, as Aelita flew past him. Unarmed, Odd quickly succumbed to laser fire from all sides.

**_~ - ~ - ~ - CL:FL - ~ - ~ - ~ _**

The sound of rapidly-moving footsteps stopped, which led the spectre to a dead end with boxes piled up on all sides. No escape.

As it walked closer to the end, the spectre failed to notice two figures standing atop the wall of boxes. And when it passed directly under them, Yumi lunged and swung a heavy metal bar at it.

_Clang!_ It hit the head of the spectre and it collapsed. Instead of being knocked out cold, it was already trying to get up. Yumi then retreated to help Ulrich push on the boxes from the other side. That set off a chain reaction, as the stack of boxes caved in, burying the spectre in contents unknown.

Letting out a sigh, Ulrich mopped the sweat from his brow. He smiled at Yumi and began walking back to the entrance when a hand caught him by his neck and pinned him to the ground.

The spectre was back, and it was not amused.

Yumi aimed a kick, but as if it had eyes on the back of its head, the spectre sidestepped and landed a clean blow to Yumi's torso, the force of which sent her spiralling onto the floor. She struggled to get up, groaning.

The spectre turned its attention back to Ulrich, who struggled but couldn't break free of the vice-grip. All he could do was to stare into the dark shades, knowing full well that the eyes behind them were blank and heartless. Ulrich felt himself grow weaker and everything was starting to become blurry.

**_~ - ~ - ~ - CL:FL - ~ - ~ - ~ _**

It had taken two team sacrifices, but Aelita was now only steps from the Tower entrance.

Then a black ball of shadows arose, blocking her way. "William–" she breathed.

The remnant Captain Cockshaw looked even more like someone who had never seen sunlight his entire life. Though paler, he still had an aura of arrogance. He unsheathed his Zweihander, a fancy name for his megasword of badassery, and held up a palm as if telling the other monsters '_she's mine_'.

"Stick to the plan, Aelita," said Jeremie.

_Everything will surely be alright_.

"Yes," she replied. With energy fields forming on the tips of her hands, she flew straight into William. At the last second, she threw them at him and swerved up. William deflected them with ease.

Which was what Jeremie wanted.

While Willi-XANA was occupied with Aelita's barrage and maintaining his smug grin, LYOKO's angel had soared past and reached the base of the Tower. She couldn't resist sticking her tongue out at him before heading inside.

"NO!" Fake William screamed in frustration.

"Yes!" said Jeremie and Bryan in unison.

"So there you have it. Drinking Red Bull isn't the only thing that gives you wings."

"Shut up, Odd" said Jeremie, though he couldn't fight back a smile. It was going to be all right.

**_~ - ~ - ~ - CL:FL - ~ - ~ - ~ _**

Yumi's eyes fluttered open, and she saw Ulrich struggling, limbs limp.

A small dose of adrenaline rushed into her. She looked around and reached for a brick. With the remainder of her arm strength, Yumi picked it up and hurled it at the spectre. It turned around and regarded her lazily. _How bothersome_. It flung Ulrich off to the side – who immediately started coughing and gasping for breath – and walked over to Yumi.

**_~ - ~ - ~ - CL:FL - ~ - ~ - ~ _**

A whole virtual world away, Aelita had risen to the top floor of the Tower and placed her right palm on the scanner that had just materialized.

NAME: … AELITA_  
>CODE: … LYOKO_<p>

"Tower deactivated," she said solemnly.

_It was over_.

**_~ - ~ - ~ - CL:FL - ~ - ~ - ~ _**

Just as the spectre leaned in, it disappeared into thin air and left no trace of its existence.

_They did it_.

Yumi wobbled as she got up and walked towards Ulrich.

"Are you alright?" Without waiting for his answer, she wrapped her arms around him. This had been their closest near-death experience to date, and it likely would have been, had it not been for the others.

"Mhmm," was all Ulrich could utter while in her embrace. He was feeling warm, and it wasn't just from the sharing of body heat. Yumi was hugging him a bit too tightly – he felt as if each of his joints was about to snap – but he let it slide; the benefits outweighed the costs.

"Heh, knew they could do it," he said when she broke off.

A smile crept up on Yumi's face as she got up. "Yeah."

"So…where were we?" It seemed that hugs revitalized him better than heat packs or coffee. Yumi helped brush off some of the dust and straightened up Ulrich's shirt.

"Well, I do believe we have a train to catch," she said as the two made their way out of the warehouse, to welcome the clear blue sky once more.

* * *

><p><strong><em>11:44:47 … 11:44:48 … 11:44:49 … 11:44:50 … 11:44:51 … 11:44:52<em>**

The real 'Men in Black' were standing in a darkened windowless room.

A man and a woman stood over a body tied up against a wooden chair, staring through their black shades. Blood was dribbling from the base of his mouth, staining his tattered shirt. And yet, he was still and felt no pain.

He was already dead.

Beside the corpse was a tray filled with various tools of torture, including syringes, transparent liquids encased in small bottles and sharp blades.

"I thought you said he'd break, Apollo," the female murmured.

The man named Apollo could sense his partner's slight irritation, even though her voice betrayed no expression whatsoever as she brushed aside a strand of her neck-length hair. She took out a cloth and began to wipe the blood off their instruments of torture.

"Sure, blame me. He just wouldn't give in, even when we threatened his family. Of course, I'd expect nothing less from an ex-federal agent."

**APOLLO  
><em>Bio: ?<br>Rank: VII_**

"While we're on the subject–"

"They don't matter anymore. Call Kastle and tell him to end it. How unfortunate," said Apollo as an afterthought, though his tone didn't reflect the sentiment. Diana nodded as she placed the used syringe into a black case.

**DIANA  
><em>Bio: ?<br>Rank: VIII_**

"And yet we are no closer to finding it," Diana added, taking out her laptop. "He's not going to be pleased with us."

"We did what we could." Apollo took one look around; there wasn't much blood spilt. They had to make sure that all traces of them being here were erased.

Despite failing to achieve their tactical objectives, the last known member of the Project CARTHAGE team had now been eliminated. The word 'умерший' (deceased) appeared on Diana's laptop screen, under the profile of the man they had just murdered.

And now with no one left to oppose their organization, their goals would soon be achieved. Apollo pulled out a large black bag from his briefcase.

"Help me dispose of the body. We're done here."

* * *

><p><strong><em>11:52:37 … 11:52:38 … 11:52:39 … 11:52:40 … 11:52:41 … 11:52:42<em>**

"I managed to call Ulrich," said Jeremie as he and the others were heading back to Kadic.

"Everything's fine then?"

Jeremie nodded. "They're still a bit shaken by the spectre that showed up during the attack, but that's it." He specifically left out the part about the spectre taking the form of a black-suited agent.

"So what are you guys up to for the rest of the day?" asked Odd.

"We're going to finish next week's homework," Jeremie responded brightly.

Odd froze; doing homework on weekends was against the moral code of all students, but doing _extra _homework was just plain illegal.

"Tell me you're joking."

Jeremie and Bryan shrugged. Aelita laughed, going behind Odd and pushed to get him moving again.

"Of course we're joking silly. Jeremie's taking me downtown," she exclaimed happily, with every reason to be excited.

Prior to working with the SubDigitals, she had seldom gone outside of school grounds. Aelita always had a thing for visiting new places and seeing new sights; and was one of the few students who thoroughly enjoyed all school field trips, even to history museums.

In addition, it was the first time since forever that Jeremie had proposed an excursion; a proposal that involved doing something fun and recreational, with no academic purpose or relation to XANA.

"What about you, Bryan?"

"Nothing much. Actually," he glanced down at his watch, "I'm running a bit late, so I'll see you guys later? Umm…have fun and don't do anything inappropriate!" he added to Aelita.

"Hey!" Aelita tried to smack his shoulder, but this time he dodged successfully and sprinted off.

"So Odd, doing anything tonight now that you've managed to get a date with the girl of your most recent dreams?"

"Wait, it's nothing like that. Well…I dunno we've only started to know each other. Catherine and I are heading out later as well. But I've still got physics homework."

"I thought it was against your moral code to do homework on weekends."

Odd shook his head. "It's only against said code if you elect to do it. If someone forces you to finish it before you can go out with her, that's an exception. Hmm…you know, I wonder if Jeremie will actually change his mind and really decide to start working on the next math assignment," Odd said teasingly.

Aelita's cheerfulness flickered. She immediately rushed forwards and grabbed Jeremie's arm, demanding that he better not have a change in plans.

Odd chuckled. It had already felt like a day had gone by, but with XANA – well the fake one – taken care of, there was still plenty of time. It felt as if it was going to be a long day, and that was fine with him. First however, a trio of kinematics problems awaited him.

**_11:59:57 … 11:59:58 … 11:59:59 … 12:00:00_**

* * *

><p><strong>Fragmented Legacy Fact 025:<strong>

This upcoming 'season' of CL:FL is largely inspired by the television series _24_. 24 hours, 24 chapters. Obviously, it probably won't be anywhere near Jack Bauer levels of explosiveness, but it does go to show just how much the world can change in a day.

* * *

><p><strong>A|N's:<strong>

I'm back! That's all to be said for now, really.

Feel free to leave a comment, and as always, thanks for reading Code LYOKO: Fragmented Legacies =)


	26. The Longest Day 12:00 PM - 1:00 PM

**26: The Longest Day [12:00 PM – 1:00 PM]**

* * *

><p><strong>PREVIOUSLY ON CL:FL<strong>

"Damn it!"  
><strong>- <em>ULRICH STERN <em>**_(Skips some LYOKO missions, but can't skip class)_

"Hey Captain B, Princess. Jeremie's freaking out about not being able to get a hold of you two."_  
><em>- **_ODD DELLA ROBBIA _**_(Skips class, but can't skip lunch)_

"Well, I do believe we have a train to catch."  
>- <strong><em>YUMI ISHIYAMA<em>**_ (Can skip lunch, but can't skip dinner [or her mom will kill her])_

"Hey, don't worry. Everything will surely be alright, right?"  
>- <strong><em>BRYAN GREEN<em>**_ (Can skip dinner, but can't skip Toronto Maple Leaf games)_

"Alright, new plan."  
>- <strong><em>JEREMIE BELPOIS<em>**_ (Skips Toronto Maple Leaf games, but can't skip rope)_

"Tower deactivated."_  
><em>- **_AELITA STONES_**_ (Skips rope, but can't skip LYOKO missions)_

"Help me dispose of the body. We're done here."  
>- <strong><em>DIANA <em>**_(Skips ?, but can't skip ?)_

* * *

><p><strong>THE FOLLOWING TAKES PLACE BETWEEN 12:00 PM AND 1:00 PM.<strong>

* * *

><p><strong><em>12:00:00 … 12:00:01 … 12:00:02 … 12:00:03 … 12:00:04 … 12:00:05<em>**

Despite a midday XANA attack, Ulrich and Yumi made it to the Gare de Lyon train station with minutes to spare. Neither of them had ever taken the TGV, France's high-speed rail service; for the next six hours, they would be travelling swiftly and in comfort to Nice.

"Apparently these TGV trains can reach speeds in excess of 300 kilometres per hour," said Ulrich out of the blue.

"Since when did you ever have an interest in trains?"

"Since always."

Yumi looked at him with skepticism.

"Just kidding. Jeremie thought we'd get bored during the long trip, so he gave me a list of all these fun facts to keep us occupied with good quality conversation."

Typical over-prepared good guy Jeremie.

"Are you saying that…we're relying on random tidbits of information to pass the hours because I'm…not entertaining enough for you?"

Ulrich's face turned bleach white. "What? No, I –"

"It's okay, I understand. You decided to bring along an encyclopedia to keep you company instead."

"N-no! It's nothing like that!" He was about to toss the train notes into the dumpster when Yumi grabbed his shoulder. She was laughing.

Typical Ulrich, getting all worked up like that. "Hey, you know I'm just playing around with you, right?"

Ulrich laughed nervously. "Right. Obviously, yeah," he said, stuffing the papers back into his bag.

"Come on, it's the weekend. Loosen up and stop acting like we've only just met," she ordered.

_Well, she's certainly in a good mood_, thought Ulrich. She was right though. School was dragging on as usual, and with XANA frequently nipping at their heels, the last few months haven't exactly been a casual walk in the park. This weekend, he had finally caught a break. Anything could happen. And he had a feeling that tonight was gonna be a good night.

They checked in and took a seat near their boarding platform.

"By the way, did you know that over 90 million passengers pass through this station annually?"

Jeremie's transportation notes never made it onto the train, Yumi made sure of that.

* * *

><p><strong><em>12:09:36 … 12:09:37 … 12:09:38 … 12:09:39 … 12:09:40 … 12:09:41<em>**

Aelita was heading back to her room to get her phone. Jeremie told her to meet him in the cafeteria, before leaving to 'pick something up'.

She was feeling nervous and uneasy about her afternoon – her 'date', as the others had called it. Initially, she had assumed that Jeremie had also invited the whole group…

**_~ - ~ - ~ - CL:FL - ~ - ~ - ~ _**

_After school, Aelita asked Yumi whether Jeremie had told her what movie they were going to see on Saturday. But Yumi said that she and Ulrich already had their own plans. Seeing Aelita's puzzled expression, she chuckled._

_"I think Jeremie only asked you to go with him." _

_"Huh? Why is he being so selfish?" Aeltia blurted._

_Innocently clueless. But Yumi wasn't one to play matchmaker, just yet. "Think of it as his way of trying to spend more quality time with you. And you two do make a good pair…Jerlita…I like that."_

_"Yumi! … Really?"_

_"Yes."_

_"Oh…"_

_"Don't you feel the same way?" _

_"Uh…well–"_

_"Look, I'm not talking in absolutes. I just thought that you two shared something special."_

_"Like you and Ulrich?"_

_"…Well…"_

**_~ - ~ - ~ - CL:FL - ~ - ~ - ~ _**

Jeremie _was_ someone special and very important to her.

He was the first person she had contact with while trapped in LYOKO. It was his Code: EARTH program, in which he worked tirelessly to compile, that allowed her to return to the real world and re-live her life. As she adjusted to the 21st century, he was there when she needed him. And now he was working feverishly to rid her of XANA's coding within her and retrieve her stolen memories. He had done so much for her, and they had grown close over the past year.

However, Jeremie proved frustrating at times. Occasionally He would isolate himself from the group, programming well into the early morning hours, skipping classes and meals in the process. Aelita knew he meant well, but sometimes, it seemed like he cared more about the work than the person it was for.

Furthermore, most of their time together was either at the factory or discussing about LYOKO and the supercomputer. She missed the early days, when he would spend hours telling her stories and taking her to places.

Then Bryan arrived. She was really grateful the he took time off to go with her to rehearsals. Of course, she had no problem going alone, but having a companion was always better; sometimes they would eat out as well. He also taught her how to skate, and in return, she taught him how to play the piano during lunch.

Learn, laugh, live. Together.

And they certainly had their moments. There was that time where they slept together, accidentally. There was the incident at the Hermitage… She thought Bryan would get all irritated with her breaking into his personal bubble, but he didn't seem to mind. Then again, he always had a playful sense of humour.

However, he always seemed to shy away. It hurt her that he was still so hesitant at times, weren't they close friends? He'd also laugh it off as if her feelings weren't really important…

Gah! Why was this so complicated?

_Bryan_. That's when she saw him standing in the hallway, knocking on the door of Melanie's room.

_What was he doing here? _

Though Aelita knew it was wrong to eavesdrop, her curiosity overrode that notion. She crouched behind the corner of the stairway. She could feel her heat beating, not knowing why she was getting all worked up about seeing him with another female classmate.

* * *

><p><strong><em>12:15:59 … 12:16:00 … 12:16:01 … 12:16:02 … 12:16:03 … 12:16:04<em>**

Melanie's door opened.

"Hi," she greeted him shyly, leaning against the frame of the door.

**Melanie Levesque  
><em>Bio: Kadic student, FRA<br>Has: worked with Ulrich on a geography presentation back in Chapter 3_**

"Hey Mel. All is well?"

"Yep. How about you?"

"Can't complain. You've got it all ready?"

"Indeed I do. I really appreciate you doing this," said Melanie as she handed him a small leather bag of contents unknown.

Bryan rubbed the back of his head. "It's no biggie. I'm headed in that general direction anyways."

"Well, to me you're doing a huge favour, so thanks a bunch. And tell them I said hi!" Melanie hesitated, before giving Bryan a quick hug – who hugged her back without hesitation. From her hiding spot, Aelita let out a small gasp.

After Melanie returned to her room, Bryan turned around to find Aelita approaching him.

"Hey you. Not leaving yet?"

"I was just going to get my phone. So what are you doing up here…in front of Melanie's door I see?"

"Oh, I'm just helping deliver something to her relatives."

Aelita's conscience breathed in relief. "Sure it's not anything more than that?" she asked sternly.

"Huh? N-no, of course not," said Bryan, hesitating. Aelita grinned and lobbed at his left shoulder.

"You know if you continue doing that, you'll never be able to appreciate the talents my left arm possesses."

"Gee, whatever will I do…"

Bryan smirked and punched her back. Aelita's expression screamed 'you didn't!' and tried to hit him back, but he was ready this time – _curse his martial arts skills_ – and grabbed her hand with his own.

_Warm_. Aelita saw Bryan's face change from amusement to one that was surprised and fearful. He let go.

"Sorry about that…reflex, heh."

"It's alright." They walked on in silence, until they reached Aelita's room.

"Would you like to come inside?" she offered.

"Aren't you in a rush?"

"I've got time. Besides, I'd like to talk to you about something."

* * *

><p><strong><em>12:23:21 … 12:23:22 … 12:23:23 … 12:23:24 … 12:23:25 … 12:23:26<em>**

The engines of a white delivery van roared to life in the backdrop of a quiet suburban neighbourhood as it slowly pulled away from the curb and merged seamlessly with the oncoming traffic.

Diana was sitting in the passenger seat, going through documents on her laptop. She paid no attention to her surroundings or whether they were going at the legal speed limit. On the other hand, Apollo was driving and making phone calls on his mobile, a multitasking situation that would result in a fine of $155 in some countries.

When he was done, he dropped his phone into the cup holder and explained their situation to his partner.

"The funds are being prepared for transfer by the hour. And I've just–"

"Booked us into a hotel, which is where we're headed right now," Diana finished the sentence for him. Apollo scowled as they got onto the highway.

Sometimes, he wished his sister wasn't capable of reading his mind.

**_~ - ~ - ~ - CL:FL - ~ - ~ - ~ _**

Jeremie was in the cafeteria with a frown on his face and a bundle of things he had just bought. It wasn't like Aelita to be late; she only had to grab her cell phone. He craned his neck anxiously looking for her bright pink hair, and was surprised when someone called him from behind his back.

"Hi Jeremie! How's it going?"

It wasn't Aelita, but it still caused him to jump slightly and turn to the source of the voice.

"Oh, Milly. Um, how are you?" Jeremie replied, visibly shaken.

**Milly Solovieff  
><em>Bio: Kadic student, FRA<br>Has: a stuffed teddy bear named Cuddles_**

"I'm fine. Just came to grab a quick bite to eat before starting on my lab report," Kadic's news reporter replied. Her eyes then glanced downward and she grinned at the bundle perched on Jeremie's lap.

"Umm..." she started slowly. "Are you going out with…?"

Jeremie gave a curt nod, as if it wasn't that big of a deal. His reddening cheeks blew his cover though and Milly's grin widened. Perhaps he was not so much of a studious nerdy person as she had previously thought.

"Wow, congrats," _finally_, Milly wanted to add, but wisely decided to avoid such sarcasm.

"So what was Aelita's reaction when you asked her?"

"Wait, this is off-the-record, right? You're not going to put this on the school newspaper or something?"

Milly pretended to be offended. "Of course not. The _Kadic Times_ is a newspaper, not a gossip magazine. It's alright you don't have to tell me. By the way, while we're on the subject, where is she?"

Back to the task at hand. "Umm…I'm not quite sure. She should've been here by now." Jeremie's eyebrows furrowed.

"Hey, don't worry. Trust me, when girls are running late, they have their reasons. My guess is she's going to try and wow you."

Jeremie flushed as he interpreted that statement. "What?"

"Get your head out of the gutter geez. I mean…she'll want to look nice, dress up for a special occasion such as this."

"Oh." _Right_. When it came to romance and relationships, Jeremie's understanding was severely lacking.

"Anyways, I'd better get going. Hope it all goes well for you tonight!"

* * *

><p><strong><em>12:39:46 … 12:39:47 … 12:39:48 … 12:39:49 … 12:39:50 … 12:39:51<em>**

"Okay Bryan, you can come in now," said Aelita, after abruptly kicking him out of her room. After all, it is highly immoral for a guy to see his girl friend – or any girl for that matter – changing clothes.

It was Bryan recommended that she have a change of attire for the afternoon. Black and pink. Light and dark. Aelita was wearing a pale pink skirt that reached mid-thigh, with black stockings. Her top consisted of a plain black shirt underneath a dark blue zip-up hoodie. Although the outfit that Yumi had helped pick for her to wear on special occasions radiated confidence, Aelita appeared quite the opposite. She was biting her lip, her hands glued to the side of her legs.

"Well?" she asked quietly, feeling a sudden urge to change back to the norms.

Under typical circumstances, any young adolescent male would either be fully petrified or experience the pain of their jaw crashing to the ground. Despite the lack of confidence, Aelita was drop-dead gorgeous. And it was natural; she didn't have any makeup.

Bryan neither broke his jaw nor turned to stone.

"Umm…it's okay," he said, before adding: "It matches your ey…" he stopped mid-sentence as Aelita glared at him with her non-pink-or-black-or-blue-coloured eyes.

But that's when he broke into an encouraging smile. "Just kidding. Why so timid? You look absolutely amazingly attractively awesome A-ta - I mean - Aelita."

That was the alliteration morale-booster she had been wanting to hear. She 'shushed' him, but smiled back and felt herself loosen up.

"So, are you going to tell me what A-tan means yet?" Having earned twenty awesomeness points from Bryan's Department of Fashion, Aelita stepped closer towards him.

_Now _Bryan was petrified. This was the first time he had a good look at Aelita up close. Her clothes hugged her body just right, in a way he had never noticed when she was wearing her sweatshirt. She was curvier than Valerie, but in a super-hot way; he almost said that out loud.

"Uh…"

Aelita wrapped her arms around his waist, placed her head over his shoulder and closed her eyes.

Bryan hesitated, not knowing what to do. Aelita had never hugged him for this long. This was a little too close, given that she was not his girl…friend. However, the rest of his body seemed to say 'screw ethics' and he hugged her back, feeling lighter than air – and this was without any hallucinogens in his system.

"Everything will surely be alright," Aelita murmured Bryan's catch-phrase contentedly.

"Y…yeah."

Suddenly, and rather inconveniently, her phone went off and they broke apart.

"Every time…in every single movie, every novel, every work of fanfiction I read," Bryan started. He didn't want to let go just yet, even though he knew that the five-second rule for hugs had long expired.

Aelita giggled and 'shushed' him again as she took the call.

"Hi Jeremie."

"_Aelita, is everything alright?_"

"Uh, yes. I'm running a little late, sorry. I had some last-minute things I needed to take care of." Aelita noticed that Bryan had taken a small green piece of paper from his bag and was folding it absentmindedly. When he saw her staring, he smiled and turned his back to her.

After a brief pause, she heard Jeremie chuckling. "_Okay, no worries. Take your time, there's no rush. Though if you don't hurry up, there won't be any sandwiches left."_

"But…being the caring person that you are Jeremie, you've already picked up lunch for me, right?"

Another pause. "_Maybe_."

"Alright. I'm on my way now. See you soon." she put her phone back in her bag.

"You have to get going, don't you?" said Bryan.

"Hmm? Yeah…"

"What's the matter?"

_He notices everything. _She shook her head. "Nothing." Bryan didn't buy it. So she took a deep breath.

"Well…I, I don't know. I mean, I like Jeremie a lot. I'm glad he found the time to go out with me instead of huddling over the supercomputer all day. And…everyone always says that we'd be great together."

"…Ah."

"Don't get me wrong, I'd never look down on him or anything. It's thanks to him that I'm here and not still trapped on LYOKO. But it's just…it's just that everything's changed in the past few months." _And I started hanging out with you_.

**_~ - ~ - ~ - CL:FL - ~ - ~ - ~ _**

_"Go on," Aelita urged Yumi._

_"Nope, not saying another word," Yumi replied. Aelita pouted._

_"I also noticed that you're hanging out with Bryan a lot. You're quite the popular girl with the boys."_

_"Uh…" _

_"Go on."_

_"No…nope! Not saying another word!" mimicked Aelita. Yumi laughed._

_"Fine. But just so you know a couple of girls in my class seem to have taken a liking to him as well…"_

**_~ - ~ - ~ - CL:FL - ~ - ~ - ~ _**

Bryan nudged Aelita, and directed her gaze to his outstretched hand. In it was a bright green origami flower; he must've made it while she had been talking to Jeremie. He lightly brushed aside her hair and placed the ornament above her left forehead. He then leaned in:

"You worry too much. Just enjoy yourself tonight with Newton – or was it Einstein? Either way, I'm absolutely certain that when he sees you like this, he's going to be pleasantly surprised."

Aelita took one glance at the mirror and saw the delicate decoration perched ever so precariously on top of her head, tilted on one side. She turned and looked into the blue eyes of one of her best friends. And perhaps that was all they were ever meant to be. Bryan looked happy, but Aelita could tell that he was happy for her and Jeremie.

"_Now _you're ready to go," he said as he escorted her out.

Aelita struggled to come up with the right words. "Thanks…I think I needed this, though I'm not really quite sure what it is."

Bryan patted her shoulder. "Anytime. I do pride myself in my motivational speeches. Remember, if you run into any problems…" for a split second he had a worried expression on his face.

"Safety first?" Aelita suggested.

"Sure, why not. But if something happens, all you have to do is call me. And I'll be there. I'll be there for you."

"…Promise?" she wiggled her pinky finger in front of his face. Bryan laughed.

"Yeah, I promise," he replied, interlocking fingers.

Aelita beamed. "Then I believe you."

Nothing more was said until they reached the first floor. Bryan was about to head out the front doors when Aelita reached out and took hold of his hand. She turned him around, and brushed her lips against his cheek.

"Enjoy yourself tonight as well. And you still owe me half an hour of skating lessons," she murmured before heading to the cafeteria, leaving Bryan rooted to the ground in shock.

When he regained some of his senses, his hand went up to the spot on his cheek where Aelita had kissed him, for the second time.

And another memory rushed back into his head – it was someone else gently kissing him on the side of his face. She had long wavy hair, however, he couldn't see who it was, nor could he remember when it had happened. The recollection then faded from his mind, just as quickly as it had entered.

_Keep her safe Jeremie_, Bryan muttered to himself as the door closed behind him.

**_12:59:57 … 12:59:58 … 12:59:59 … 1:00:00_**

* * *

><p><strong>Fragmented Legacy Fact 026:<strong>

Although Yumi displays absolutely no interest in the subject, TGV stands for "_Train à Grande Vitesse_", which is French for "high-speed train".

* * *

><p><strong>A|N's:<strong>

What's this? Weekly updates? To the avid, observant reader, it is apparent that the chapters for this story arc are shorter. Therefore, I'll continue to do my best to upload full chapters, on a weekly basis.

Feel free to leave a comment, and as always, thanks for reading Code LYOKO: Fragmented Legacies =)


	27. The Longest Day 1:00 PM - 2:00 PM

**27: The Longest Day [1:00 PM – 2:00 PM]**

* * *

><p><strong>PREVIOUSLY ON CL:FL<strong>

"Apparently these TGV trains can reach speeds in excess of 300 kilometres per hour."  
>- <strong><em>ULRICH STERN <em>**_(The train nerd)_

"You decided to bring along an encyclopedia to keep you company instead."  
>- <strong><em>YUMI ISHIYAMA <em>**_(The rare comedian)_

"The funds are being prepared for transfer by the hour."  
>- <strong><em>APOLLO <em>**_(The ?)_

"There's no rush. Though if you don't hurry up, there won't be any sandwiches left.  
>- <strong><em>JEREMIE BELPOIS <em>**_(The anxious one)_

"Thanks…I think I needed this, though I'm not really quite sure what it is."  
>- <strong><em>AELITA STONES <em>**_(The Key)_

_Keep her safe, Jeremie_.  
><strong>- <em>BRYAN GREEN <em>**_(The left-handed talent)_

* * *

><p><strong>THE FOLLOWING TAKES PLACE BETWEEN 1:00 PM AND 2:00 PM.<strong>

* * *

><p><strong><em>1:00:00 … 1:00:01 … 1:00:02 … 1:00:03 … 1:00:04 … 1:00:05<em>**

As Aelita walked into the cafeteria, a couple of young adolescent male students experienced the pain of having their jaw crash down onto earth. Of course, Aelita was oblivious to all of this as she continued on her way.

For the past year, she had maintained her position on the secretive imaginary list of the _Top 5 Kadic Angels_. Aelita had all the qualities to be admired: she was beautiful, cute, nice, honest, intelligent, very nice, innocent…the list of adjectives went on.

So it was a head-scratcher for many when it appeared that she had chosen Jeremie, someone who seemed to have no interest in relationships. They wondered what she saw in him, and deduced that in addition to being very polite, Canadian girls preferred the intellectual nerdy type.

Even though it was a given Aelita and Jeremie were an item, that's not to say that some didn't try to make a move on her. Of course, these attempts largely ended in failure thanks to the fact that Aelita wasn't the best at recognizing pick-up lines, in addition to the efforts of a certain Ulrich Stern and Odd Della Robbia.

Jeremie spotted her and flagged her down. She smiled and took the seat next to him.

"Hey Aelita, I already got you a sandwich. I was worried that you–" It took him a full five seconds to realize that she looked different than usual. Aelita began to unwrap her sandwich.

Stunning. He flushed crimson; having never seen Aelita dressed up the way she was. In his eyes, she had always been the most beautiful girl he had ever seen; and now, her outfit seemed to reinforce that notion even more.

"Milly was right…" he murmured, more to himself.

"I'm sorry?"

Jeremie cursed himself mentally as he tried to regain his voice. He saw some of the other students also staring, whispering – some even letting out wolf-whistles at Aelita; he felt as if he should be protecting her. At the same time, he felt triumphant, perhaps even a little smug, knowing that he was closer to Aelita than anyone else.

That didn't stop him from stuttering though. "By the way Aelita, you – you look…"

Her smile grew wider as she lifted a hand to run through her hair. "Like it?"

"Absolutely." He took notice of the bright green origami hairpiece on her head.

"By the way…"

"Hmm?" she muffled a reply with half a mouth full of tuna salad. Clearly, she wanted to finish quickly so they could be on their way. However…

"Could you tell me more about the false XANA's attack today?"

* * *

><p><strong><em>1:09:23 … 1:09:24 … 1:09:25 … 1:09:26 … 1:09:27 … 1:09:28<em>**

"And Edgar's travel time is… Huh," Odd scratched his head. Although physics wasn't his strongest suit, he was convinced there was no such thing as _negative_ time. He took out is eraser for the umpteenth time and looked over the last problem of his assignment.

There didn't seem to be anything wrong. He had the distance, initial velocity and acceleration. He had used the right kinematics equation. All that was left for him to do was to substitute the values in and solve for time.

He tried again, making sure he had entered the correct values on his calculator, but got the same error; there was no square root of a negative number, in the realm of the real, anyways. He had already been working on his assignment for nearly an hour. So with his remaining unused lifeline, he phoned a friend.

Three ringtones later, Jeremie picked up.

"_What is it, Odd?_"

"Einstein, how are you? Sorry for disturbing your make-out session with–"

"_Shut up, Odd_," was Jeremie's irritated response. Odd snickered, he could make out Aelita's voice on the other end, curious as to what was going on.

"Sorry, sorry," he said hastily. "Quick question, I'm having trouble with the last physics question. I checked a bazillion times already. Pretty sure I used the right equation, but I'm getting negative time."

"_There's no such thing as negative time._"

"Duh, even I know that. I just don't know why I keep getting it."

"_What's the equation?_"

"Uh, d equals v one times t, minus half of a times t squared." [d = v1(t) – ½a(t^2)]

"…_Okay, now take a look at your notes_."

"Yeah?" said Odd as he flipped through his course binder.

"_You're sure you copied down the equation correctly?_"

He _thought_ he had the right one. He compared each letter and symbol on his assignment with his notes, and realized that he couldn't tell the difference between a plus and a minus sign.

"Ah, add. Okay, I think I should be good now. Thanks."

"_Sure_."

This time, Odd's calculator was able to compute an answer. He then looked down at his phone. _Just in time_.

He called another number and soon, Catherine picked up.

"_Hello?_"

"Hey Catherine, it's Odd. I've just finished my assignment."

_"Great! Took you long enough mister,_" Catherine chided, although she didn't sound unhappy at all.

"Well, physics put up a good fight, but I emerged victorious in the end," said Odd, trying to appear as modest as possible. She laughed.

"_Wow, congratulations. How about you come outside now? I'm sitting at the benches in front of the school entrance._"

"Sounds good. I'll be there in ten."

**_~ - ~ - ~ - CL:FL - ~ - ~ - ~_**

Odd suddenly wished he had bought some AXE, the thing that girls fall head over heels for – or so he saw on television. He hadn't been sweating – much – so he hoped that he didn't have that bad of a lingering odour.

He packed his things into a small rucksack and then felt something brush against his leg. It was his pet dog, who had yet to be formally introduced in this story.

**Kiwi Della Robbia  
><em>Bio: Team LYOKO mascot (not really), ITA<em>**  
><strong><em>Has: a penchant for raising Cain<em>**

"Hey boy almost forgot about you. Umm listen, I'm gonna be out tonight, so I'm going to have to leave you in here okay? If Jim catches you, we'll both be in big trouble."

Kiwi whined. No animal, especially his dog, enjoyed being confined to a small room for an elongated period of time. But he certainly couldn't take Kiwi with him; the convention centre didn't allow pets.

So Odd swung his bag over his back, lifted Kiwi into his arms and headed up to the third floor.

He knocked on the door of Milly's room. The door opened and a girl with red pigtails stepped out.

"Hey Odd, what's up," said Milly. She was shorter than him by a head; then again, she was two years younger than him too. Her eyes met Kiwi's and she smiled briefly before assuming a stern expression.

"Still breaking the rules are we?"

"Sort of. Umm, are you free this afternoon?"

Milly smirked. "You want me to take care of Kiwi while you go out on another date, right?" As with all of the other times Odd was off with a companion, he had come looking for her pet-sitting services. Fortunately, Kiwi had taken a liking to her.

"No, not really…well, maybe something like that. So do you mind?"

"It's fine. I won't be too busy, apart from a lab report. But I'm thinking I should start charging you for this," she said in a serious tone.

"Really? Thanks Mill! Because I'm a frequent customer, I get a discount, right?"

"Whatever. I'll take good care of Kiwi, don't worry."

"You're the best," He handed his dog over, who started licking her face.

"Whoa boy, calm down! My face isn't that delectable is it?" she said happily as Odd waved and left the two alone.

* * *

><p><strong><em>1:24:07 … 1:24:08 … 1:24:09 … 1:24:10 … 1:24:11 … 1:24:12<em>**

"So we're just dealing with some of XANA's excess data right now?"

Aelita nodded. "Guess so."

"You said that this has happened twice now. And given that it takes a lot of energy for it to occur, it would be safe to presume that these remnants attack should subside soon."

"Wonderful." Aelita tried to stifle a yawn. She hadn't said much.

"It is. This means that the winter holidays should be XANA-free this year," said Jeremie cheerfully, before noticing the person to his right had somewhat of a bored expression on her face. He looked down at his watch and was shocked by how much time had passed.

He had done it again. Any time the supercomputer was brought up, he got excited. It was like reading a book that was impossible to put down. LYOKO was like a giant project and there was always something to be done or tinker with.

And because Jeremie could literally go on about things like how he was working on another program to dispossess William from XANA, he tended to lose track of time and his other plans. Still, he was interested by the concept of XANA's excess data being capable of causing chaos.

Jeremie got up and Aelita looked up at him hopefully as she rose from her seat as well.

But she didn't get the answer she was expecting.

* * *

><p><strong><em>1:28:41 … 1:28:42 … 1:28:43 … 1:28:44 … 1:28:45 … 1:28:46<em>**

Odd found Catherine contentedly sitting on a wooden bench outside, reading a book and listening to music on her iPod. Today, she had shoulder-length blue hair – darker than Bryan's – and a black blouse with dark blue jeans.

He snuck up behind her and placed his hands on her shoulders. Her skin felt so soft under the fabric–

"BOO!"

Catherine jumped up slightly, her heart skipping a beat as she turned sharply to her side to see Odd laughing.

"Dude, what the hell!" she stared at him. That completely eradicated the smile on Odd's face, and his confidence as well. He was suddenly worried that this would be the shortest date of his career…

But then her expression softened and she laughed as well. "Wow, you should've seen the look on your face," she poked him playfully as an act of revenge.

"All ready to go?" She slipped her book into her bag.

Odd grinned. "Yep. Totally ready for some fun and games. I've already had a hectic couple of hours. You'd never believe what I get myself into these days."

Catherine laughed. "What? Like saving the world?"

* * *

><p><strong><em>1:32:26 … 1:32:27 … 1:32:28 … 1:32:29 … 1:32:30 … 1:32:31<em>**

"E."

Yumi paused, shook her head, and drew in the arm of a man being hanged.

"Darn. Seriously? What movie only has one vowel?"

"Well, you haven't guessed Y yet."

"Oh right. Y then."

The hanged man's second arm was drawn in, which greatly frustrated the boy who was assigned to save him. Yumi chuckled.

"Can I get another hint?"

"Of course not. Then it'd be too easy."

"What if I said please?"

"Then I'd still say no. Now come on. It's not difficult. Movie, four letters, something 'a' something 's'."

"R."

Yumi drew a leg.

"Rats."

"You're really bad at this."

"Well, you have an odd taste in movies," Ulrich replied, which earned him a smack in the head.

"For your information, this was an extremely popular film."

Ulrich looked at the letters he had already guessed and tried to sound out the missing letters. There were no vowels remaining, and it was supposedly well-known…

"J."

Yumi paused for dramatic effect, before filling in the first space: 'JA_S'.

"M," said Ulrich with confidence.

"Okay, now you're just being silly," said Yumi. She was smiling, however, as she drew in the other leg.

"I was just checking. You never know, there might have been a well-known movie about jam."

"So what's your final answer?"

"Jaws, obviously."

Yumi nodded. "Good job. Looks like Leroy gets to live another day."

"You named the stick man Leroy?"

"Great name right? You were kind of taking too long so I gave him some personality too."

"Gee, thanks Yumi," Ulrich muttered, prompting a laugh from his friend as she handed him the paper and pen.

"Fine, you think of one for me to solve," she said as she got up to get something out of her bag that was stored in the overhead compartment.

**_~ - ~ - ~ - CL:FL - ~ - ~ - ~_**

One seat behind them, a cleanly-shaved man was looking up his stock portfolio on his laptop with a rather bored expression on his face. He turned to take a look out the window, and saw blurs of countryside zipping past him.

His phone began to vibrate and he waited several seconds before picking up. He didn't need caller display.

"It is done," the man spoke quietly. A drawling voice with traces of a Russian accent.

"_Both of them_?" said a woman's voice on the other end.

"Yes. I took care of them."

"_Excellent. Your payment is being deposited in your usual offshore account as we speak_."

The man switched internet tabs and refreshed the page to find that he was a quarter of a million dollars richer. He didn't have a penchant for smiling, but for less than an hour of work that was satisfying enough.

"_Pleasure doing business with you, Kastle_," the woman said, before hanging up.

Kastle put his phone back in his pocket when he heard soft rustling above him. He looked up to see a teenaged girl reaching for her bag. Sometimes the sharp senses he had refined during his tenure in the special forces was a burden.

Apparently, Yumi also noticed that she was making a disturbance. "Sorry. Just had to get something from my bag," she said apologetically, closing the compartment shut.

"No worries," Kastle replied with the slightest of nods as Yumi returned to her seat. He then returned his gaze to the NASDAQ, wondering if it was worth investing in more shares, thanks to yet another large injection of wealth for his professional services.

* * *

><p><strong><em>1:43:59 … 1:44:00 … 1:44:01 … 1:44:02 … 1:44:03 … 1:44:04<em>**

Aelita was getting impatient.

Once again she was at the factory, watching Jeremie typing away. And once again, he was paying more attention to technology.

His interest in XANA's excess data had carried over from the cafeteria back to the supercomputer. Aelita followed him, trying to mask her disappointment; though she insisted on walking the long way there, not wanting to get her clothes soiled down in the sewers.

However, she was surprised when Jeremie logged off the computer; they had only been there for several minutes. He turned around to face her.

"Well then, shall we be on our way out?"

_He didn't forget…_ Disappointment immediately forgotten, Aelita nodded.

**_~ - ~ - ~ - CL:FL - ~ - ~ - ~_**

"By the way Jeremie, what were you doing back there?" she asked while they were on their way to the bus stop.

"I just wanted to run a quick scan of LYOKO to make sure there were no lingering traces of XANA anywhere. You know, so there wouldn't be anything to interrupt us for the time being. That is, until the real XANA returns."

Aelita nodded in understanding. Had he told her his justifications instead of just taking off, she wouldn't have been that irritated with him.

"Oh, before I forget, I got these for you," he took out a small bouquet of petunias from his bag.

The boy took the large bundle of lilies he had procured earlier from his bag and handed them to her, blushing.

They were gorgeous, and of her favourite colour. And this was the first time he had presented her with fanciful fauna.

She accepted them, beaming. "Thank you Jeremie." She leaned to smell them, before adding: "but am I going to have to hang onto them the whole time we're out?"

Jeremie mentally slapped himself in the head. _Why didn't I think of that? _He should have given them to her while they were still at school.

Aelita sensed that he was stricken, so she placed a hand on his shoulder. "It's alright. It was very thoughtful of you." Jeremie's smile returned.

"So, any plans of what you want to see or do first?"

* * *

><p><strong><em>1:51:05 … 1:51:06 … 1:51:07 … 1:51:08 … 1:51:09 … 1:51:10<em>**

From watching Odd cry over spilled milk during breakfast, to another encounter with fake XANA to…Aelita. What a day… Bryan shook his head, apparently trying hard to forget that encounter. _It meant nothing_, he told himself.

He hoped that everything would go smoothly, that for the most part he could just sit back and relax without any worries or dangers. How wrong that perception turned out to be.

After a short stop at the barbers, Bryan was skating to the Levesque house. He preferred this method of transport over taking the bus; it allowed him to collect his thoughts.

He reached up to touch his shorter blue hair that still shot out in all directions. Satisfied, he took out his phone to make a long-distance call.

"Hey Bri, what's up?"

"Today's the day," he said brightly.

When Valerie spoke, she didn't share the same optimistic tone.

"Right. How are things on your end?"

"Just had a brush with XANA this morning, other than that, it's all good. You?"

"Wait, what? Never mind. Looks like you've got things sorted out. Cool."

"I still have an errand to take care of and supplies to pack, but I thought I'd just keep you in the loop."

"Take your time. It'll take a while for me to get set up here anyways."

"Okay. I'll call you when I'm ready. You sure your information and source are correct?"

Valerie scoffed. "Apparently the Soviets did a better job of concealing their people; finding our POI was no biggie. Of course, the fact that we had a picture of him helped a long way."

"We had his photo?"

"Yep. I'll fill you in on the details later. Let me know ASAP if anything changes."

"Of course."

"And Bryan?"

"Yes?"

"I don't have to tell you to be careful, do I? Or else I'll beat you up."

"Ha ha, thanks for the reminder. Take care, Val."

When he reached his second destination, he rang the doorbell. A middle-aged man opened the door. He smiled kindly.

"Bryan, nice to see you again. You're just in time, come on in," said Melanie's father.

Bryan smiled back and took a step inside, when he was tackled by two small shadows.

**_1:59:57 … 1:59:58 … 1:59:59 … 2:00:00_**

* * *

><p><strong>Fragmented Legacy Fact 027:<strong>

_Top 5 Angels_ of Kadic (updated November 30, 2006)

1. Léa Deschamps  
>2. Catherine Horvath<br>3. Julie Laurendeau  
>4. Aelita Stones<br>5. Sophie Wong

* * *

><p><strong>A|N's:<strong>

Another week, another chapter. Finally, everyone is on their way.

Feel free to leave a comment, and as always, thanks for reading Code LYOKO: Fragmented Legacies =)


	28. The Longest Day 2:00 PM - 3:00 PM

**28: The Longest Day [2:00 PM – 3:00 PM]**

* * *

><p><strong>PREVIOUSLY ON CL:FL<strong>

"Could you tell me more about the false XANA's attack today?"  
>- <strong><em>JEREMIE BELPOIS <em>**_(At the bus stop)_

"I've already had a hectic couple of hours. You'd never believe what I get myself into these days."  
>- <strong><em>ODD DELLA ROBBIA <em>**_(On a bus)_

"What? Like saving the world?"  
>- <strong><em>CATHERINE HORVATH <em>**_(With Odd)_

"You're really bad at this."  
>- <strong><em>YUMI ISHIYAMA <em>**_(On a train)_

"It is done. I took care of them."  
>- <strong><em>KASTLE <em>**_(On a train)_

"I don't have to tell you to be careful, do I? Or else I'll beat you up."  
><strong>- <em>VALERIE GAUTHIER<em>**_ (On a different continent)_

* * *

><p><strong>THE FOLLOWING TAKES PLACE BETWEEN 2:00 PM AND 3:00 PM.<strong>

* * *

><p><strong><em>2:00:04 … 2:00:05 … 2:00:06 … 2:00:07 … 2:00:08 … 2:00:09<em>**

As soon as he stepped inside the Levesque house, he heard a shout and saw the Twins sprinting towards their babysitter before they latched onto him, delighted.

"My, you guys seem to be getting stronger. Almost cracked a few of my bones," he said, impressed, ruffling their hair. The two four-year olds only reached just above Bryan's legs, but their hugs nearly knocked the wind out of him.

Victoire Levesque pulled back shyly. "Heh, sorry."

"I'm just kidding around. So, all ready for your trip?"

Eric Levesque nodded, still holding onto his babysitter. "Yep. Victoire's 'most done packing. Got books, games, toofbrush…"

Victoire gasped.

"Oh no, forgot toofbrush! Be right back!" she said, running upstairs. Bryan laughed, as he allowed Eric to lead him into the living room.

The suburban house was quite roomy and spacious. The light-coloured furniture complimented the wooden tile floor. It was also surprisingly organized and tidy, despite the presence of two young preschoolers. Then again, Melanie's twin brothers were hardly ever troublemakers, which made Bryan's babysitting duties much more easygoing.

Mrs. Levesque came up from the basement with a basket of fresh laundry. She saw Bryan with Eric and gave him a warm smile.

"Ah, Bryan, welcome back. Everything's going well at school, I'm assuming?"

"Yes, thanks for asking."

"Good. And how is Melanie doing?"

"She said if she wasn't so busy she'd love to come with you guys. Oh, and she also sends you her love and wishes you all a safe trip."

"Mommy, Daddy's wondring where his pink shirt is," Eric piped up, as if suddenly remembering.

Mrs. Levesque muttered something and checked her basket. "I've got it," she said before turning back to Bryan. "Hope you'll forgive me, I've been running around for the past half-hour minutes doing some last-minute packing."

"No worries. You'd think that he wouldn't get that worked up about a plain pink shirt though."

Mrs. Levesque laughed. "Tell me about it. He thinks it's lucky though; apparently he gives it full credit for our encounter with Bill Gates."

"Wow…wait, wasn't that was over twenty years ago."

"Yes. It's a very old shirt. Faded colours, a small hole just above the shirt sleeve. But he wears it for all trips nonetheless," Mrs. Levesque sighed.

"I feel your pain. Anyways, when are you planning on leaving?"

She looked up at the clock. "Oh, probably in about fifteen minutes. But you're welcome to stay here as long as you like."

"Thanks, I just came to drop off some stuff for the twins."

"Sounds good. Now, if you'll excuse me, I have some pink shirts of good fortune to hand off." said Mrs. Levesque. She went up the stairs with the laundry basket, calling her husband, just as Victoire zipped passed her, with a rather bloated Tinkerbell backpack.

**_~ - ~ - ~ - CL:FL - ~ - ~ - ~_**

"Got toofbrushes and toofpaste," Victoire grinned when she rejoined Bryan and Eric.

"Good work. Your dentist would be incredibly proud," said Bryan.

"Mmm, I don't like the dentist," Eric blurted.

"Me too," said Victoire.

"Neither do I," Bryan admitted, before adding, "oh yeah, before you go. Melanie got you guys a little something."

He saw the Twins' big round eyes light up and made an act of slowly reaching into his bag for the leather pouch. He had Eric and Victoire hold out their hands and he set the bag down in the middle. He loosened the pouch and took out a small shiny sphere.

"Marbles!" said Eric excitedly. Victoire had her head tilted to the side, examining the small specimen with great interest. Bryan gave the green-bluish marble to Eric, then took another one out and placed it on Victoire's her free hand. Hers looked like Jupiter with its orange, yellow and white swirls.

"Wow Mel," she whispered.

"Bestest big sister," said Eric, beaming.

Bryan smiled at their adorableness.

There was a time in the past when he was in elementary school and had also indulged in the marble craze. He didn't really play _actual_ marbles, the one where you skilfully knock them out of an imaginary circle. Instead, he vividly remembered racing them with his classmates, shooting marbles across the ledge of the chalkboard, setting up brushes, chalk and pins as obstacles.

He vividly remembered his first marble, which he nicknamed the mustard ball for the golden yellow streaks and pearly white tint. By the end of the year, he had accumulated a small precious collection. No two were the same. And there were some supposedly harder to find, and more valuable than others…

* * *

><p><strong><em>2:20:26 … 2:20:27 … 2:20:28 … 2:20:29 … 2:20:30 … 2:20:31<em>**

No matter how cool you think you look while doing it, smoking is stupid, evil and bad for your health.

However, the man leaning on the side of his white transport van with a lit cigarette was unaware of this general view and simply didn't care.

He was dressed more casually than usual, a white golf shirt, navy jeans with shoes made by Nike. His dirty blonde hair was neatly trimmed and there were hints of a goatee running down his chin. He took in another puff of toxin and flicked the small butt onto the ground, stomping it out with the heel of his sole.

He wished he could spend more time out on the field like his other associates, doing the more entertaining aspects instead of lethargic administrative duties. But he assured himself that he would at least have some fun at night.

He was scanning a couple of numbers on his mobile when he was approached by one of his men.

"Is it all in order?" he asked his associate without looking up.

"Give or take another hour, boss. Just a couple things to get in order and we'll be ready to go."

The man nodded and slipped his phone back into his pocket. He clasped the shoulder of his associate before heading back inside a small two-storey building. He took out a small photograph from his shirt pocket.

He took off his black shades for a better view of the fuzzy image. It was of a young woman.

That was her, there was doubt about that. He had seen many women before throughout his travels, but this one – vibrant hair colour notwithstanding – stood out from the rest. He didn't know her name, and had only caught brief glimpses of her, twice.

She was pretty. And she was a very important piece in their plans.

And that suited him just fine.

* * *

><p><strong><em>2:25:39 … 2:25:40 … 2:25:41 … 2:25:42 … 2:25:43 … 2:25:44<em>**

_If we were only here three minutes earlier_, thought Jeremie, lamenting the fact that he and Aelita had just missed the bus by roughly 180 seconds. They were marooned at the bus stop, still waiting for transport which would take them to downtown Paris.

"Jeremie," Aelita called, taking his attention away from the complicated map of bus routes.

_Click!_

The flash from her camera totally caught him by surprise as he looked up. He didn't even have time to smile, straighten his hair, or at least appear pleasantly content.

"Hey!" he protested half-heartedly, which made Aelita giggle. She looked down at the screen.

"You don't look that bad," she said earnestly.

"But you're still deleting that, right?" asked the very unphotogenic Jeremie Belpois.

Aelita paused and shot him a mischievous grin. "Maybe. Or I could set it up as the screensaver on the supercomputer."

It would be quite odd to see an awkward photo of himself every time he wanted to work at the abandoned factory. Furthermore, once Ulrich and Odd found out, he was sure that they'd never let him off the hook. After all, they were the ones who called his LYOKO form absolutely 'ridiculous.'

"Umm, I don't think that would be a good idea." Jeremie tried to take her camera, but Aelita held it out of his reach, smirking. He narrowed his eyes, Aelita never acted like this; angels weren't supposed to be deviant.

He tried again, this time he came up to her, trying to reach around for the rectangular machine. Up close, he could smell her fresh lemony scent. Their eyes locked together, neither moved between shallow breaths as they waited for the other to make the first move.

"Oh, look, the bus is here," Aelita said hastily, blushing as she took a step back. And while Jeremie was momentarily distracted, she snuck her camera back into her bag. The bus came to a stop and opened its doors, as the two got out their student cards.

Just as she stepped on, Aelita turned around and grinned.

"Don't worry, I deleted it."

Jeremie smiled back. "Okay. Thanks."

"To be honest, though, it was a pretty good picture."

"Aelita!"

* * *

><p><strong><em>2:31:58 … 2:31:59 … 2:32:00 … 2:32:01 … 2:32:02 … 2:32:03<em>**

Diana walked out of the bathroom wearing nothing but a white towel over her body. She looked refreshed as she sat on the bed next to Apollo.

"What's wrong?" she asked.

Apollo shook his head. "Apparently there may be a chance of a major snowstorm tonight," he said as he looked up from the news website. Outside however, the sky was bright and clear, giving no indication that Old Man Winter was about to unleash his fury.

"So? That sounds about right for this time of year."

"Our flight leaves at 11:00 PM. If it's as bad as they are making it, we could be grounded here for an extra day."

"Well, it's not like we're in a rush or anything," she paused as she scanned her partner's face.

"But I suppose the sooner we leave here the better," Diana added.

"Exactly."

"Look on the bright side. We've got some extra time in Paris, the most romantic city in the world. How long has it been since we were last here?"

"At least fifteen years. Nothing's changed much."

"Mhmm. Speaking of which, as I recall you owe me a fancy dinner after that incident in Munich."

Diana tried to cover up her look of amusement, but Apollo could see straight through her guise. "Do I really now?"

She leaned in and gave him a deep kiss. Their tongues wrestled. Apollo resisted the urge to just rip off the towel covering her smooth pearly white skin.

It was still early in the afternoon; they could afford to take things slowly.

Diana pulled back slightly, eyeing him hungrily. "Take things slowly, eh?" She remained straddled on top of him as she began to slowly unbutton his white shirt. Apollo could feel his manhood getting hard.

* * *

><p><strong><em>2:38:42 … 2:38:43 … 2:38:44 … 2:38:45 … 2:38:46 … 2:38:47<em>**

Valerie bit her lip worriedly, her wet hair clinging on to her skin as she turned on her laptop.

Murphy's Law stated that if something can go wrong, it will. And today, there were over a dozen things that could go catastrophically wrong.

Sure, today's mission was all part of their grandiose plan – the purpose of Bryan's stint in France. Through the supercomputer, he had found another piece of the puzzle. Now they had to find out how it connected to the bigger picture.

Analysis and logistics support? That was her job, and it was by no means dangerous. She was miles away from danger, and Valerie always made sure that her actions were left untraceable.

Field reconnaissance? That was another story.

Bryan was going to do it all alone, with no backup; obviously they couldn't trust anyone. It was a sixteen-year old teenager out in the field, and another sixteen-year old guiding him. She was ultimately responsible for her beloved's well-being.

The first time Bryan and That Little Bitch had done field work, they had been compromised almost immediately. They were grossly inexperienced and reckless, what else would you expect from several high-school students taking on the professionals of the business?

And Bryan nearly died. Sure, they made it in one piece in the end, but nothing significant was accomplished. That experienced changed everything, and Bryan was never really the same after, thanks to That Little Bitch.

She quietly apologized to Bryan for calling their ex-partner by that name.

They hadn't done any more field missions following that incident. There were no further credible links to follow; which was probably for the better.

Now however, she understood that Bryan had to act. This was the opening they had been hoping for. There was no doubt in her mind that they were better prepared. It was akin to the Allies having learned from their experience at Dieppe and later emerged victorious on D-Day in 1944.

Bryan had also told her that he was doing some weird martial arts – pencak silat – with his friends. But even months of preparation was meaningless at zero-hour. Plans were merely an invitation for let-downs.

_Bryan_, she murmured to herself, absentmindedly twirling her long curls. How she missed him, having him in her arms…

She reminded herself that she needn't be too worried; Bryan was only going to visit and interrogate their person of interest, a person who should be on _their_ side. She checked his background, or whatever there was of it; he wasn't the type to be hostile. In a perfect world, everything should go smoothly.

Unless of course, their enemy got to him first.

**_~ - ~ - ~ - CL:FL - ~ - ~ - ~_**

One late night, a couple of days after he had started his internship with Dr. Franz Hopper, Bryan's father stumbled upon the "greatest Vietnamese restaurant in the world", which was being run by a young up-and-coming chef named Charles.

It was also at that restaurant where he met Joel Levesque, a computer engineer who ended up being one of his closest confidantes. Although both had tremendously busy and conflicting schedules – one was working on a classified project for NATO and the other doing his master's degree – they still managed to find some time to hang out. Each was following their own path to change the world.

From what little Bryan knew about his father, he had talked highly of Mr. Levesque, who was also the best man at his wedding.

That notion was reinforced when Bryan himself had come to study in France. For the first couple of days after touching down, he had stayed at the Levesque's house. Despite having only seen him just after he was born, they had welcomed him with open arms as if he was a long-lost part of their family. Eric and Victoire seemed to have taken a liking to him as well…

Bryan lifted his head out of the bathtub and looked at the mirror.

His touched his dripping hair, which was no longer sky blue. Instead it had been dyed dark brown. At the very least, he could say that he was Ulrich Stern 2.0.

He frowned. Perhaps he should have told Aelita to dye her hair as well, all those times she set out from Kadic. Of course, he didn't know how he would justify that to her.

The Levesque family had long left for the airport when he got out of the washroom. Bryan headed downstairs to the kitchen and opened his bag.

Roller skates? Check. First-aid-kit? Check. Binoculars? Check. Weapons…? Bryan started to grow nervous. While he hoped he would never have to resort to violence – he was Canadian, after all – he knew that he had to account for the possibility of things going awry. Valerie had mentioned that to him; Martin's Law or something of the sort.

He carried a switchblade in his pockets, but even that, combined with his hand-to-hand combat skills were useless against firearms. And there was no way he could acquire one without suspicion.

Bryan scanned the room for other supplies. He definitely needed something for diversions, something that could provide him with a quick escape. And perhaps, something that could induce heavy amnesia…

* * *

><p><strong><em>2:53:15 … 2:53:16 … 2:53:17 … 2:53:18 … 2:53:19 … 2:53:20<em>**

"And that's how I obtained my Master's Degree in Being Awesome," finished Odd, flashing the 'V for Victory' sign.

Catherine chuckled at the crazy nonsense she was listening to on the way to the convention centre.

"Wow, if I had known that schools in France offered university degrees to high-school students for pulling a couple of pranks on their gym teachers, I would've signed up to come here years ago."

**CATHERINE HORVATH  
>Bio: Kadic student, USA<br>Has: never dyed her hair pink (yet)**

"So, is that the end of your legendary tale?"

"The happy ending part of it, yes. I had my degree confiscated shortly after."

"Really? By who?"

"Ulrich." Odd muttered incoherently along the lines of 'what a dick!'

"Somebody should give him a medal. Or a Bachelor's Degree in Conflict Resolution," said Catherine thoughtfully.

"I thought you were supposed to be on my side."

"I am. Having that lame award confiscated is for your own good. Now you won't head down the dark desolate path of pursuing a doctorate in pranking people and skulduggery."

"Gee, thanks for your support," said Odd sarcastically, which made Catherine laugh even more.

"You know, Bryan wasn't wrong on this one. You are a pretty adequate storyteller."

"I know, right? Wait, he's told you stuff about me?"

"Yeah. He's my fellow Kadic noob buddy," said Catherine nonchalantly.

"Umm…your what?"

"Hmm, for a pretty adequate storyteller, you should really read this story sometime. Bryan's been my Kadic noob buddy since Chapter 5. Though I guess we're technically just Kadic buddies now, minus the noob."

"By the way, how did you meet our beloved Captain B?"

"Oh, so it's my turn to tell a story now?"

Odd nodded.

"Well…still a ways to go. Sure, why not." Catherine sighed as the bus yet grinded to another stop to drop off several passengers. The traffic light in front of them turned red.

"We both arrived at Kadic on the same day. I first saw him when he was walking out of the principal's office. The first thing that came to my mind was his sky-blue hair. At first, I thought he just dyed it, like me."

"Come to think of it, you seem to dye your hair like what, once a week?"

"Yeah, something like that. But I was really shocked when he told me it was all-natural – even more than him being a Toronto Maple Leaf's fan. I thought he was just cosplaying or something. I mean, I've never seen anyone who was born with blue hair before."

"And of course, that was only the tip of the iceberg. I soon met a girl in a grade lower than me. She had natural pink hair."

**_2:59:57 … 2:59:58 … 2:59:59 … 3:00:00_**

* * *

><p><strong>Fragmented Legacy Fact 028:<strong>

Code: LYOKO to LIFE was at one point the working title for this story. In the end, Fragmented Legacies was chosen as I felt it would have more meaning to the events that would take place. It also sounds cooler.

* * *

><p><strong>A|N's:<strong>

I don't know about you, but I consider fall/autumn to be the best season of the year. All my favourite novel series come out (Lorien Legacies, Skulduggery Pleasant, Percy Jackson/Heroes of Olympus), all my favourite TV shows return (How I Met Your Mother, The Simpsons, The Big Bang Theory)…lots to read and watch!

Feel free to leave a comment, and as always, thanks for reading Code LYOKO: Fragmented Legacies =)


	29. The Longest Day 3:00 PM - 4:00 PM

**29: The Longest Day [3:00 PM – 4:00 PM]**

* * *

><p><strong>PREVIOUSLY ON CL:FL<strong>

"Good work. Your dentist would be incredibly proud."  
>- <strong><em>BRYAN GREEN <em>**_(Has roller skates)_

"To be honest, though, it was a pretty good picture."  
>- <strong><em>AELITA STONES <em>**_(Has a camera)_

"But you're still deleting that, right?"  
>- <strong><em>JEREMIE BELPOIS <em>**_(Has memorized the bus routes of Paris)_

"Apparently there may be a chance of a major snowstorm tonight."  
>- <strong><em>APOLLO <em>**_(Has sex)_

"And that's how I obtained my Master's Degree in Being Awesome."  
>- <strong><em>ODD DELLA ROBBIA <em>**_(Has no Bachelor's Degree in Being Awesome)_

"You know, Bryan wasn't wrong on this one. You are a pretty adequate storyteller."  
>- <strong><em>CATHERINE HORVATH <em>**_(Has evil ex-boyfriends)_

* * *

><p><strong>THE FOLLOWING TAKES PLACE BETWEEN 3:00 PM AND 4:00 PM.<strong>

* * *

><p><strong><em>3:00:04 … 3:00:05 … 3:00:06 … 3:00:07 … 3:00:08 … 3:00:09<em>**

_Jeremie still didn't fully trust Bryan. _

_The Canadian exchange student arrived right out of the blue, and with him, an even bigger part of the Project CARTHAGE mystery. It was only after he gave some more details regarding his background did Jeremie realize the enormity of the task Team LYOKO had to undertake. And he didn't know everything tied together; there were too many unexplained loose ends and 'what ifs'…_

_The antagonists of their situation expanded beyond the AI unit – XANA, a program which was created by a joint partnership of NATO countries to counteract the threats of the Soviet Union during the Cold War._

_There was supposedly a group that was after the supercomputer. Yet, the secret organization he nicknamed the 'Men in Black' – seemed to be wiped out from history itself. Their only proof of existence lied within Aelita's vague memories. Perhaps it was even her imagination… However, Jeremie gave her the benefit of the doubt. Aelita had remained steadfast and genuinely fearful of the fine-suited group, and Jeremie believed her._

_His initial theory was that the MIB were a rogue section of the French secret service – the SDECE or DGSE at the time – who were after the supercomputer for the nation's own ambitions. _

_Then Bryan threw that theory out the window. Why would the French government infiltrate or sabotage the project of an international alliance that it was a part of? It did seem odd for France to be one of the bad guys of the world._

_That led him back to square one. Who were the Men in Black from Aelita's memories? Soviet agents? He hadn't really considered this case as much, as the Soviet Union itself had been dissolved in 1991. _

_But what became of those who tried to capture Aelita and her father all those years ago? Did they finally give up? Or are they still actively searching for them and the remains of Project CARTHAGE? _

_And if so, how safe is Aelita – and the rest of Team LYOKO for that matter?_

**_~ - ~ - ~ - CL:FL - ~ - ~ - ~_**

_"Seriously, Bryan, do you know of anyone who might be after Aelita?"_

_Jeremie vividly remembered confronting Bryan a couple of days after their first joint mission on LYOKO. He wondered whether Bryan was keeping anything from him regarding Aelita's connection with the supercomputer._

_He _was.

_Bryan said nothing for a moment, and Jeremie expected him to lash out in irritation of being asked the same question. Finally he shook his head._

_"Not to my knowledge, no."_

_"Alright. But if you do come across something about any connections to her past…"_

_"You really care about her, don't you?" Bryan asked softly and suddenly._

_Jeremie nodded. _

_"In that case, can you keep a secret?"_

_Jeremie was taken aback. While he mistrusted Bryan, it seemed as though Bryan was willing to trust him. _

_"Sure," Jeremie replied, slightly uneasy of what he was about to be told._

_"Alright. The reason why I didn't you or the others this was because…I mean you're already dealing with one dangerous foe…and no offense, to fight against another formidable adversary could prove disastrous."_

_Fair enough. Facing XANA has never exactly been a leisurely stroll in the park. Two enemies at once…that never really pans out well. Like Germany during both world wars. Two separate fronts. Two formidable foes. Two defeats in a row._

_Bryan cleared his throat. "When you started asking about whether I knew about some 'Men in Black', I think I got the context a bit off… I've been looking into something for a while now. But I have yet to find anything concrete. I guess like you, I'm also trying to put the pieces together."_

_"So you're saying that…you also think some underground group exist? The same ones who are after the supercomputer and Aelita?"_

_"Umm…Like I mentioned before, I strongly doubt Aelita is being targeted."_

_Bryan swallowed. "However, that doesn't mean that there aren't those who'd like to get a hold of her." _

_Jeremie looked increasingly worried. "Why?"_

_"Anthea Hopper. Is the name familiar to you?"_

_So Bryan knew about her too… "Yes. Aelita's mother. One day she disappeared, and no one ever found out what happened to her."_

_Bryan nodded. "Let's suppose there's a group after the supercomputer. Who would be the number one person on their list if they wanted to find it?"_

_"…Franz – Aelita's father."_

_"Who, as the chief of Project CARTHAGE must have been under heavy security. So, what's a good way to bait him out?"_

_Jeremie's throat went dry. _

_What was one of the best ways to lure someone out of hiding, or force them to submit? Take something precious away from them, such as wealth, personal treasures… _

_Or their loved ones._

**_~ - ~ - ~ - CL:FL - ~ - ~ - ~_**

_"Jeremie?" Bryan nudged his shoulder._

_What? He asked, yet no sound came out from his mouth. He didn't recall this part of the conversation._

_He felt another nudge, but Bryan had vanished from his view. A blinding white light struck him as he heard his name being called out again. But the voice was different yet familiar…_

"Jeremie," Aelita whispered for the third time.

He stirred, opening his eyes groggily. His head was rested on a soft and warm surface, which smelled of fresh lemons… Aelita's shoulder.

Shocked and growing redder with embarrassment, he quickly righted himself. How long had he been asleep?

Aelita giggled as Jeremie sputtered an apology. "Hey, you don't have to be sorry. Although you did miss a couple of great views," she pointed out the window.

"By the way, the bus stop you told me to look out for is coming up. I thought I'd wake you up sooner rather than later."

"Thanks Aelita."

"You sure do like talking in your sleep though," she added. Jeremie's throat went dry in the present. So Aelita had heard everything? Surprisingly, she didn't look worried at all.

As soon as she saw his expression, Aelita couldn't help it and burst into laughter. "I'm just kidding," she said jovially. She was tempted to take out her camera, but decided to cut Jeremie some slack.

Aelita got up excitedly as the bus slowed down and playfully pushed Jeremie forwards towards the exit doors, eager to get off the bus.

She had no idea that she was being watched.

* * *

><p><strong><em>3:20:59 … 3:21:00 … 3:21:01 … 3:21:02 … 3:21:03 … 3:21:04<em>**

Bryan put on his black shades and his Maple Leafs baseball cap atop his cropped and dyed hair, and stepped out of the Levesque house.

He had to ensure that he did not look too inconspicuous, while at the same time concealing his identity. Attracting any form of attention was the last thing he wanted to do, which could jeopardize his mission.

_Men in Black…_

Bryan chuckled to himself. He still thought that made an organization seem less menacing and more like they were the protagonists from a movie of the same name, protecting mankind from aliens.

Nevertheless, he wasn't investigating a fabled and possibly fictional entity today. Rather, it would be a rather eventless interview with a man closely linked to Project CARTHAGE. He had no idea as to how Valerie found him so easily, and quickly to boot. He had only provided her with a name, a blurry photograph and an occupation. Speaking of which…

Bryan was still standing at the doorway when his call was put through.

"Hey Bri. Nice timing. I'm all set."

"Excellent. Nice work Val. By the way, this is a secure line, right?"

"What? It…oh crap, hold on… Wait. Where exactly are you right now?"

"The Levesque's place."

"You're in a residential neighbourhood that has one of the lowest crime rates, and there's a high likelihood of no baddies nearby. Why on earth do we have to be on a secure line?"

"Uh, so that I can feel secure?"

Valerie snorted. "Ha ha. Moving along, I'm sending you the address and details to your phone."

Several minutes later, Bryan had downloaded the files and was mapping the bus routes to another quiet suburban neighbourhood on the other side of town.

"Alright. Time to have a chat with Mr. Alan Meyer."

"Remember, he might be going by his other name."

"Right. Let's go find our good buddy Lowel," Bryan rephrased his previous statement.

"…He probably won't like being called that."

Bryan sighed exasperatedly over the phone, and a chuckle could be heard from the other end. Formalities had never been his specialty or of his preference.

"Fine. Let's go find _Professor Tyron_," he said, locking the door behind him.

* * *

><p><strong><em>3:30:33 … 3:30:34 … 3:30:35 … 3:30:36 … 3:30:37 … 3:30:38<em>**

Three hours on the train had gone by as if it were thirty minutes. It was clearly evident that time flies when you are having fun. And long trips always seem shorter when you are occupied with something other than counting down the minutes until you arrive at your destination.

And for Yumi and Ulrich, they did exactly just that. They played card games and hang man, the latter activity evidently not being Ulrich's strong suit. They spent most of the journey just talking, seamlessly transitioning between topics, including school, cafeteria food, music, the Bundesliga (German football league) and Ulrich's newfound interest in manga.

LYOKO was never mentioned.

Following a late lunch of sandwiches and soda from the trolley, the two friends were leaning back in their seats comfortably, with just under two-and-a-half hours to go before they reached Nice.

Ulrich stifled a yawn and took another look outside. Through the glare he could only make out blurs of flat countryside as he zipped passed them. He then felt Yumi tap his shoulder and he turned around. She had taken out her green iPod mini from her pocket.

"Want to listen?" she said, holding up an earphone.

"Sure. Thanks Yumi," he replied as he inserted the earphone into his ear. He appreciated the fact that she didn't play the music that loudly so as to kill eardrums; it was only as loud as it needed to be.

Yumi had lowered the volume such that the tunes of the Irish rock band U2 almost sounded like a lullaby. Rays of sunlight continued to protrude through the wide windows, slowly sapping away at the energy of the two students.

It wasn't long before both of them, eyelids heavy and bellies full, dozed off.

**_~ - ~ - ~ - CL:FL - ~ - ~ - ~_**

Apparently, she still had it in her. And so did he.

The moans of pleasure subsided as Apollo lay naked with his back on the bed, the white sheets covering up to his torso. He had an arm wrapped around the white skin of the woman lying contentedly on his chest, her blonde hair now all tangled and tousled.

On the wooden drawer next to the bed, Apollo's phone began to vibrate. Apollo shut his eyes, trying his best to ignore it.

"You should get that. It could be important," said Diana, twirling her finger across his chest as the phone kept vibrating.

"It can wait," Apollo muttered, but Diana had already lifted her head up and reached for her white robe.

Sighing, Apollo sat up, and first placed his lips onto Diana's neck, eliciting a gasp and a little shiver from her. He then reached for his mobile and saw the caller ID.

_Hmph_. Diana was right. It was important. He picked up.

"Агент семь (Agent seven)," said Apollo.

For a while, all Apollo did was listen, occasionally uttering a simple 'yes' or 'no'. Meanwhile Diana had gone to the washroom for another shower, and he wanted the phone conversation to end soon so he could join her.

Yet, what he was about to hear changed everything.

"We've found her," said the emotionless voice on the other end.

* * *

><p><strong><em>3:43:11 … 3:43:12 … 3:43:13 … 3:43:14 … 3:43:15 … 3:43:16<em>**

Compared to everyone else, Odd and Catherine looked quite normal.

The convention centre looked essentially like Halloween 2.0: a place full of cute cosplayers, masked heroes and the like. Besides the costumes, there were booths all lined up featuring the latest games, graphic novels, comics and manga.

They were lining up to register for the Halo tournament. Odd took a glance at the crowd gathering at the exhibit. Although he had always boasted of his competency in the game, he wondered how he would fare against people other than Ulrich, his primary playing partner who was renowned for aiming for the feet instead of the head.

Indeed, several participants appeared to be hard-core gamers. Some Odd assumed based on appearance: they wore thick glasses and looked like they had never seen sunlight in weeks. Others he could tell based on the gamer jargon they used, such as "screen-watching is for noobs," "I only do PvP," and "does it ever feel laggy to you?"

"Just so you know, I don't think we should get our hopes up on finishing near the top of the leaderboard," Odd murmured to Catherine, who didn't seem fazed one bit.

"So is Kadic's number one sharpshooter is already calling it quits?" she teased.

"Of course not! Are you kidding? He's just telling you to never underestimate the competition."

Catherine laughed. "Right. Good, your expertise in FPS should balance out my lesser lacklustre talents."

"I thought you said you were good at crushing your enemies in Halo."

"I'm pretty sure a modest person like me would never say such a thing, unless I was talking about tennis – nothing like winning in straight sets. Seriously, I'm not even that good at in Halo. I just like shooting games."

"Nah, I'm sure you'll do fine. Sniper's intuition," said Odd encouragingly. "Besides, having fun is 95% of the pie of gaming."

"So winning isn't a major component?"

"Nope. Win or lose, you still get to eat a piece of pie."

"Thanks, now I'm starting to feel a bit hungry. If you change your mind though, I think I might have a cunning strategy to ensure that we emerge victorious."

"What's that?"

"Flirting with our opponents," Catherine suggested with a sly smile.

Odd took another nervous look around. Most of the participants were male and some were looking back in his direction, most likely not at him, but at the girl he was with.

He coughed. "I don't recommend that. Like I said earlier, winning isn't that important."

"If you say so. Anyways, what's in the other five percent of your game pie?" asked Catherine with a smirk.

"Two percent is frustration due to lag or long loading time and the rest accounts for washroom breaks and yummy snacks."

"Just wondering, where did you pull these numbers from?"

"Gamer stats dot net. By the way, did you know that forty percent of all games sold are rated E for everyone?"

"Really? The only thing I recall is that fifty percent of stats are made up."

"Oh, so what if I'm right?"

"Then I'll take you out for ice cream."

Odd couldn't believe his luck. Another chance to hang out with Catherine? Things were gelling along so smoothly. But then he decided to be even more ambitious.

"You know, this is a pretty significant statistic…I'm not sure ice cream would be enough."

"You mean I'm going to be really impressed when I find out that four out of every ten games is actually rated for everyone?"

"Forty percent."

"Four out of ten is forty percent."

Odd scratched his head, too immersed in the moment to care about simple math. "Ah. Yep, you'll be mildly impressed, without a doubt."

Catherine twirled a finger in her blue hair. "Fine. You can make the date plan. I'll tag along."

Odd grinned. "You said date again."

"Did I? Ugh, sorry, must be the weather. So what if you're wrong?"

"Uh…same prize, but in reverse?"

"Deal," she nodded, and they shook on it.

**_~ - ~ - ~ - CL:FL - ~ - ~ - ~_**

"By the way, thanks for inviting me along. I didn't even know there was a gaming convention today," said Odd.

"No biggie. I owed you one for cheering me up, remember? The other alternative would've been the local bookstore. I figured you'd like this better."

"You know, I actually wouldn't mind going there, _as long as I'm hanging out with you_," Odd wanted to say the last part, but that was just be too cheesy.

"Oh? What kind of books do you read?"

"Do they have any Garfield or Calvin and Hobbes?"

Catherine laughed. "Yes, they have those comic strips."

It wasn't long before they reached the front of the line.

"Darn, we need to come up with a team name. Any suggestions?"

"How about Team Odd Cat?" Odd replied automatically; the first idea that popped into his head. "The OC for short," he added, making no reference to the television series of the same name.

Catherine's narrowed-eyebrows and inscrutable expression implied that perhaps he was more adept for naming XANA's monsters than coming up with an inspirational title for the duo.

Suddenly, her lips curled upwards to form a smile. "That's the best you could come up with," she murmured as she continued to fill out the registration form.

"Of course not," Odd protested. He had, after all been given such short notice. Catherine didn't reply and handed in their completed paper. A new name flashed onto the screen seconds later.

_Team 8. The Odd Cat_

**_3:59:57 … 3:59:58 … 3:59:59 … 4:00:00_**

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><p><strong>Fragmented Legacy Fact 029:<strong>

I initially toyed with the idea of releasing the chapters of this season based on their respective time (releasing this chapter that chronicles 3:00-4:00 PM between 3:00 to 4:00 PM). Of course, this idea would be difficult later on, such as for chapters taking place in the early morning hours.

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><p><strong>A|N's:<strong>

While writing this out, I remembered that back in chapter something, a reviewer told me I should have included the line: "Yeah, well x percent of statistics are made up." whenever a stat was presented out of the blue. And so this time, I did.

Also last chapter I was reminded of two things that make fall awesome: Canadian Thanksgiving (last week) and Halloween. Yes, candy is good too.

Feel free to leave a comment, and as always, thanks for reading Code LYOKO: Fragmented Legacies =)


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